Location Diaries: Smruti Venkat—The getaway driver

Shooting for Double Tuckerr was a unique experience for actor Smruti Venkat for several reasons.

"In all my other films, I've usually played very innocent and naive characters. However, for this film, I had to do a lot of different things which pushed me out of my comfort zone. For example, I had to shoot an action sequence for the first time. For one scene, I had to drive a small van with a gang of villains chasing us. Actor Dheeraj who plays the male lead, along with Munishkanth and Kaali Venkat were all inside the van with me," recalls Smruthi. Smruti had to drive while a lot of action was happening all around them. "Stuntmen were chasing the van, climbing on top of it, falling into the van and even running in front of us. Even while I was performing my scene and saying my dialogues, I also had to pay attention to driving very carefully and manoeuvred the van safely so that nobody was hurt," says Smruthi.

The actor reveals that she was all the more nervous for another reason, "To be honest, I don't even know how to drive a car. And all of a sudden, I had to drive for an action sequence with my fellow cast members inside. I became even more anxious because I was concerned about the safety of the costars with me and all the stuntmen chasing us from all corners. Luckily all of them were safe. It was one of the most unique and unforgettable shooting experiences for me."

Actor Dheeraj plays a dual role in the film. So there were shots where Smruthi had to shoot with a green mat background with scenes involving Dheeraj. Talking about the challenges involved, Smruthi says, "Shooting the scenes with Dheeraj in a double role was very challenging for me because I had to meet both his characters at the same time. The challenge was to remember every time which of the two I was speaking to and react differently to each of them. I constantly kept getting confused about which reaction to give to whom. I have never shot such lengthy, VFX-heavy shots before. It took some getting used to. But it was a lot of fun and eventually, I got it right."

There are special animated characters in Double Tuckerr. "According to the script, only Dheeraj's character could see those animated characters and not me. So, luckily, my part would be to just act normally. So those portions were fun to do."

Smruthi also reveals that she enjoyed shooting with the big ensemble cast. "Apart from Dheeraj, Munishkanth and Kaali Venkat, it was also fun working with a veteran actor like Kovai Sarala ma'am. Acting with all of them was genuinely a very learning experience. After Mookuthi Amman, it was great to be part of a big ensemble cast again, which made Double Tuckerr an enjoyable experience."