After working for 12 years in the movie industry there comes a point in your life where you don’t want to do random films,” says Charmme on the occasion of completing her 50th film Pratighatana. The actor has done diverse roles, worked hard on learning Telugu and is finally taking it easy. At the moment she wants to do only films that excite her. The relaxed yet confident actor states, “I am in a position where I can reject films and take a six month gap, after which I’m still sure of having good films fall into my lap. When a director can’t get one girl to do the film, he goes to another but in my case people come to me saying that they won’t do the film if I don’t take it up.”
For a long time, director and producer Tammareddy Bharadwaj had a story in mind but it actually started moving only when he bumped into Charmme at an audio launch.
He resolved to have her as the lead girl and she agreed after she heard the story. Finally the actor is said to have surpassed his expectations.
The timing of the release is noteworthy as it is about the need for people to vote for the right person in order to get good governance. The sub-plot is however about rape. Charmme avers that her film will target the youth who are upset with the current political and social situation and don’t know what to do.
“In one scene, a rapist is jailed and soon after another rape takes place. The politicians blame the women for dressing in an attractive manner. I play a news reporter who bursts out and gives a fitting reply to all the politicians. Pratighatana will inspire, entertain, sensitise. The film isn’t preachy, it is a political and a social satire,” she says.
Pratighatana bears no similarity with the Vijayashanti starrer. The rapists in the films are rowdies and they have the backing of the politicians and are not getting punished; they enter the political fray. She is confident it will be one of the best films she can boast of. She has given her best to the film right from being part of the discussions at every stage and the dubbing too.
Hasn’t the film arrived at a time when women-oriented subjects are fading in Telugu cinema? Charmme shoots back: “We are just typecasting a film as a hero’s or a heroine’s movie; at the end of the day it is all about entertainment.
Ragini MMS and Queen are doing well because both have a good subject and not because it is heroine-oriented.
How will we know what people want unless we try something new?” She signs off saying that a news reporter’s job isn’t easy, one has to have a command over the language, be bold enough to interview politicians, be completely updated about politics and not misuse one’s power.”
The film is set to release on April 18.
