'Dimple Queen' Rachita had fun on Bharjari sets

Rachita Ram has always been known as a star’s heroine, until she signed Bharjari. She has so far worked with all the top stars including Darshan, Sudeep, Puneeth, Ramesh Aravind, Ganesh and Sriimurali.

Chethan Kumar decided on her for his movie, two years ago, because of her dimples and of course her charm. The director believed that she would be a perfect heroine for Dhruva Sarja, who was doing his third film.

Rachita, in a conversation with CE, says that she had been looking forward to working with a younger team. “I have so far been lucky enough to work with the seniors in the industry,” she says. “In Bharjari, I trusted Chethan to deliver a good script and then Dhruva is a happening hero who has delivered two massive hits, Addhuri and Bahaddhur. He is so full of energy, and the team is passionate; all of this helps my career profile.”

'Chetan is unbelievably patient'
“For a new director, he could handle 150 people on the sets simultaneously and he did that well. If he keeps being patient, he will grow in the industry,” she says.

Rachita, who has worked with senior actors and on relatively quiet movie sets, says that she initially had trouble adjusting to the loud noise on the Bharjari sets. “Eventually, I started liking it and gained more confidence around everyone… I was not distracted,” she says.

The movie has been 20 months in the making, seeing many delays, but Rachita has no complaints. “It has been a great experience,” she says. “Even though I worked on two to three films in between, Bharjari was a priority. The team had it tough but they worked around the dates and took the trouble to make me comfortable.”

It is not often that you see a film running on the lead actress’ dimples, and Rachita  blushes when asked about it. “My dimples have been lucky,” she says, adding, “I was told that I am the only one who has them in the entire family.  Before my smile, the dimples come out. In Bharjari, the director set the story around my dimples… I was game for all of it.” She even had a line on her dimples in a song from Bulbul, with lyrics by Kaviraj. “Bharjari also has a song about my dimples. So I think I have earned my title Dimple Queen, which the industry has given me,” she smiles.

'No qualms about sharing screen space with heroines'
Heroines are usually not very happy about sharing screen space with other actresses, and Rachita is working with Hariprriya and Vaishali Deepak in Bharjari. “I am not one to decide on the script, and I will never stand in the way of a director’s vision,” she says. “It is his call to bring any number of heroines for he knows better what the subject needs. Irrespective of the number of actors, I make sure to give my best shot. In fact there was a lot of give and take between us on the sets. Hariprriya has worked in a lot of good films and Vaishali is relatively new, and I had a lot to learn from both of them,” she adds.

After working with stars, did Rachita find it difficult to work with up-and-coming artistes? “Nobody is a star overnight. They have all earned it,” she says, “I started my career with stars, but I do not think that I am one, and it embarrasses me when people think so much of me…I don’t like it.”

Rachita adds, “I want to tell everyone that I am still a newcomer and Bharjari is my eighth  project. I am ready to work with everyone, provided there is a good story, production house, director and team. Moreover, Dhruva Sarja is said to be the Darshan or Sudeep or Puneeth of tomorrow.” Her next is Ayogya, which has her paired opposite Sathish Ninasam. “It is newcomer Mahesh’s directorial debut. I believe it is a good script,” she says.

'Dhruva Sarja and I are close friends'
“We have fought many times,” she says, adding, “We are like south and north poles but, in Slovenia, we became good friends. Dhruva looks strong from the outside, but is a tender-hearted person. As an actor, he supports every artiste and technician and heartily appreciates good work. There have been rumours about our closeness. But, that may be because we are of the same age and we have a lot of things in common to talk about… we enjoy being mischievous.”
 

Though Rachita is said to be considering movies in other languages, she says she will take a while to decide on that. “Everyone looks for a change, and so am I. But, this industry has given me a lot and I want to remain faithful to it,” she says. “Of course, there is lot of politics that I am not aware of, but something of that sort happens everywhere. This industry taught me to act better, not to manipulate people and situations to advance my career. I do want to grow in this industry.”