A loud “Hi guys! What’s up!” booms through the room as Kajal announces her arrival in style, claiming the attention of everyone present. Reaching for her pre-lunch green-tea, she settles down for a chat with Hyderabad Times. Acting with Mahesh for the second time in Brahmotsavam, Kajal seems to be in awe of her co-star and can’t stop talking about him. She is evidently just as intrigued by his acting now as she was when she worked with him four years ago in Businessman. “I haven’t been able to figure out Mahesh’s style of acting. There are method actors and some are spontaneous but with Mahesh, I don’t know how he does it! Either way the end result is all that matters and it’s amazing,” remarks Kajal.
She thoughtfully adds, “One thing I noticed about Mahesh is that he doesn’t take his stardom for granted. With the kind of adulation he enjoys, it’s so easy to get complacent. But Mahesh doesn’t. He does an action film and immediately jumps into a family drama. He’s constantly on his toes.”
Speaking of co stars, Kajal confesses that though Samantha is also a part of Brahmotsavam, they don’t have any scenes together. About working with Pranita however, she says, “She’s a very focussed girl. Very ambitious. I think she will go a long way.”
Kajal plays the “NRI maradalu” of Mahesh in Brahmotsavam, produced by Prasad V Potluri under PVP Cinema, releasing on May 20. She has a bone to pick about the NRI stereotype in Tollywood though. “There is this weird misconception about NRI girls — that they are bold, audacious and oh-so-rebellious! But the styling of my character in Brahmotsavam is contemporary yet modest. She dresses just like any modern woman would, and that includes myself. We did not go OTT with my role,” she says.
While the styling is something she could relate to, the too-practical-to-be-true nature of her character in the film is something she confessedly, “just couldn’t fathom”. “So, I play this very strong and pragmatic girl. She has her heart set on something she really wants, but then she has to forgo it because that’s the practical thing to do,” she shares, careful not to reveal too much.
Apparently, Kajal even argued about this aspect of her character with the director. “Personally, I would be devastated if I was put in that situation. I cry at the drop of a hat. I’m a cry baby! So, for an emotional person like me, the character seemed insensitive. I used to fight with my director about it because I couldn’t fathom being so strong despite being in such a dilemma. But Srikanth convinced me — he told me, ‘She isn’t insensitive, she is just doing what she has to’. This role is exactly the opposite of what I am in real life, and I guess that’s what made it such a difficult role to pull off,” she says, signing off.
