Actress Aditi Rao Hydari on being the center of drama in Telugu film ‘Maha Samudram’ and her multicultural identity
Aditi Rao is Hydari’s great Maha SamudramTelugu movie releasing on 14 October. Her writer-backed role is the center of the drama, but that’s not the only reason she agreed to do the film. While settling down for an interview in Hyderabad to promote the film, Aditi says, “The biggest draw was director Ajay Bhupathi.”
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After watching the director’s first film RX-100, she says, “I couldn’t take my eyes off the screen. The sense of storytelling was immortal. I respect her for her command over writing and filmmaking.”
Ajay waited almost two years for Aditi’s dates, considering her other commitments and the pandemic’s troubled schedule. But eventually she was on board. Maha Samudram The larger-than-life mainstream outing was also a highlight for Aditi: “Ajay is proud and sorry for the film’s large canvas that celebrates heroes, heroines, songs, dances and drama. I love all that in the movie. I also got a chance to work with two actors whom I admire and respect – Sharwanand and Siddharth. There is a perception that short films are more realistic and hence their stories are stronger whereas large scale films sacrifice story for songs and dance. don’t we love stories cinder Or Bajrangi Bhaijaan?”
She recalls what she learned from director Mani Ratnam during the making of Tamil films katru veliyidai And Chekka Chivanta Vanam: “Mani sir helped me understand the ease of communicating with a director, what he wants from an actor, and what value an actor can bring to the script. It was all about working with Ajay Bhupathi. He was so sure of what he wanted from his actors to be as unshakable as a five-year-old.”
Aditi Rao Hydari in ‘Maha Samudram’
Without divulging much, she describes Maha as a woman who goes through turbulent events, but maintains her calm amidst the storm that surrounds her.
Aditi enjoys working funny story (Hindi Anthology) or Sufiyum Sujatayum (Malayalam), he is game for films like Maha Samudram. Bonus is the theatrical release. His recent films, including v (Telugu), girl in train And Sardar’s grandson There were direct digital releases during the pandemic.
when she debuted in telugu hypnotism (2018), it was a homecoming, given her ancestral roots in Hyderabad. Though she was not proficient in the language, she dubbed for the film in sync with her character of a North Indian female actor working in Telugu cinema. Maha Samudram Vizag brought a new challenge with dialogues in the underlying dialect: “I wanted to dub; I learned all the lines and spoke them. But eventually someone else did it for me. I would have needed more time to learn the tone and tone of the dialect. I am glad that what is right for the film has worked out.”
Aditi Rao Hydari
Her mixed ancestry and exposure to multiple cultures while growing up has made Aditi fit into films in different languages: “My grandmother is Mangalorean and a part of my family thinks I look like Mangalore. My grandfather is Telugu and I feel at home here. My father is a Bohri Muslim and I have done similar roles. My father lived in Chennai for a few years and I learned Bharatnatyam from the age of five. Tamil comes more easily to me than Telugu. “
At one point her mother, Hindustani classical singer Vidya Rao asked if Aditi wanted to take Tamil as a second language in school. Aditi refuses, saying that Tamil is a difficult language to learn: “I wish I had learned it then,” she laughs.
Growing up, Aditi dreamed of becoming an actress who could work across the country. Now that she is living her dream, it becomes difficult to manage the schedule at times. But she says the acceptance she gets from people watching films in different languages makes it worthwhile. Aditi recalled a newspaper in Kerala saying that the actor is ‘our Sujatha’. “Malayalam cinema has so many talented people and it was very moving to get that kind of acceptance. I am glad that I can connect with people beyond the boundaries of language or religion.”
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