Keerthy Suresh has been subjected to constant trolling, partly due to the choices she made — whether it was Remo or Thodari . However, Keerthy silenced her critics after essaying the legendary actor Savitri in the Telugu biopic Mahanati , which was equally celebrated by critics and audiences. The film gave a career-defining role for Keerthy, who says she’s become extra cautious about her choices post Mahanati . It has been a particularly busy year for Keerthy, who has had five releases so far. Her sixth film, Sandakozhi 2 , is releasing today. And she still has Vijay-starrer Sarkar in the pipeline.
When director Lingusamy narrated the script to Keerthy, what piqued her interest was the briefing given to her character. At the same time, Keerthy had her inhibitions since she had to replace Meera Jasmine, who played a mischievous character called Hema in Sandakozhi (2005). “Lingusamy is someone who’s known for his strong female characters. After narration, I wasn’t sure whether I would be able to pull off the role, because Meera Jasmine did a fabulous job in part one,” says Keerthy, adding that her character in Sandakozhi 2 is a village brat.
Keerthy Suresh was juggling between the shoots of Mahanati and Sandakozhi 2 . After shooting an emotionally-draining scene for the former, she would happily join the sets of Sandakozhi 2 , where she would relax for the rest of the day. But, does she find any difference in acting in a commercial potboiler and say, a Mahanati ? Not really, she says, adding, “I may not be able to answer this question had it been another commercial film. It’s almost a rarity to get such roles in a commercial film. Whether it was the importance given to the character or screen space, I’m fortunate that I was the chosen one.”
Keerthy believes that she has given the best to her character. “Even if I were to play a village girl in future, there’s nothing more I can do because my character in Sandakozhi 2 is probably the extreme version,” she adds.
Barring Tamil, Keerthy has established a strong foothold in the Telugu and Malayalam industries as well. But dubbing is one thing Keerthy Suresh is very proud of. “Acting without dubbing is incomplete. I had a very difficult time dubbing for Mahanati. Of course, your voice is your identity and you need to take pride in that. I’ve started dubbing since my third film,” she says.
