Padi Padi Leche Manasu stars Sharwanad, Sai Pallavi on how their mutual admiration sparked an intense onscreen chemistry

Hanu Raghavapudi’s latest romantic drama, Padi Padi Leche Manasu, starring Sharwanad and Sai Pallavi, delves into the idea of an eternal love story and how it stands the test of time. Quite early in the film, Surya (a character played by Sharwanand) tells the audience that the light in his name has been missing for almost a year; however, he owes his life to one person — Vaishali (Sai Pallavi), who filled him with a lot of hope. In a series of flashbacks, Surya narrates how he first met Vaishali in the crowded streets of Kolkata and how, over a span of several days, he kept meeting her under unusual circumstances until she fell in love with him. [caption id=“attachment_5828321” align=“alignnone” width=“825”] Sharwanad and Sai Pallavi in Padi Padi Leche Manasu. Image via Twitter[/caption] It’s a quintessential love story. Although, the intense chemistry between the lead pair is anything but normal. By Sharwanand’s own admission, he has never shared such a great equation with his co-star in recent years. “I’ve huge respect for Sai Pallavi. She’s a phenomenal actress and she gets into the character so well that she makes others do better. Both of us share a competitive spirit when it comes to acting, but neither of us tried to dominate each other. Perhaps, that’s what translated to such good chemistry between us,” Sharwanand avers. On the other hand, Sai Pallavi credits Sharwanand’s down-to-earth nature as the reason behind their sparkling chemistry between the two. “He has been around for almost 15 years, but there was not a single day where he created an impression that he was senior to me. We have great mutual respect for each other, and I guess that’s what shows on screen,” she adds. Both of them are all praise for Hanu Raghavapudi’s approach to storytelling as the defining factor behind why shooting for Padi Padi Leche Manasu became a memorable experience. Sharwanand and Hanu have been friends for a long time now, and the actor confesses that even though some of Hanu’s films failed to do well at the box-office, he has always admired his vision. “He’s a brilliant technician and I don’t think he gets enough credit for it. I had faith in him and I didn’t think twice about working with him. Initially, he narrated a couple of scripts which were meant to be action dramas; however, I was keen on doing a romantic film helmed by him,” Sharwanand reveals. The defining factor, for Sai Pallavi, however, was that she’s going to be collaborating with some good actors and technicians. “When I’ve to dedicate one year of my life to a project, it’s important for me that I enjoy the process. For people, it might just be a two-hour film, but it’s so much more to actors like me. I approach all my films with an open mind and whether I can do justice to my character or not. In my case, I’m very clear that either my character should be at the centre of the plot or my character should influence the story in some way. In Padi Padi Leche Manasu’s case, I liked how the love story between the two characters evolves over a period of time,” she says. The team shot extensively in Kolkata beyond capturing several locales beyond the tourist attractions, and Sai Pallavi reveals that the team had spent at least four months in summer and winter, to capture the various sights and sounds of the bustling city. “It was so humid,” she laughs, adding, “But, at the same time, it was quite an interesting experience living there for quite sometime, even though it was my first visit to Kolkata.” In a way, the city too became a character in the film, reflecting the ups and downs of their relationship. The rain-soaked bylanes, the slow-paced trams cutting across roads, the hustle-bustle of the bazaars and coffee houses turned into a perfect setting for the romance between the two characters. [caption id=“attachment_5828311” align=“alignnone” width=“825”] Another still from Padi Padi Leche Manasu. Image via Twitter[/caption] For both Sharwanand and Sai Pallavi, Padi Padi Leche Manasu wasn’t the first love story that they’ve been part of. In fact, Sharwanand earned rave reviews for his performance in Kranthi Madhav’s Malli Malli Idhi Rani Roju, and Sai Pallavi made a huge splash with films like Premam and Fidaa in recent years. “Every love story is different in some way or the other, even though all of them toy around with the same idea of how people meet, break up, and meet again. I never thought that Surya in Padi Padi Leche Manasu was similar to Rajaram in Malli Malli Idhi Rani Roju. What matters the most is how well the characters are portrayed on screen, and whether you can feel their love for each other or not. I really liked how Hanu penned the love story, especially in the first half in Padi Padi Leche Manasu, and I don’t think anyone has ever written something like this in Telugu,” Sharwanand reveals. There’s little doubt that Sai Pallavi is a gifted actress, although she never underwent professional training, prior to her debut. “I’ve to make every film of mine count because my parents gave me the freedom to act in films, even though I aspired to be a doctor,” she remarks.  Incidentally, in the film, she played a medical student, and Sai Pallavi admits that she was quite conscious about how she portrayed the role. “We had a lot of discussions about how doctors would behave, and I wanted to keep the character quite authentic to my actual profession. However, one of the challenging things was, in fact, the subtle expressions that I had to pull off during some of the dramatic moments. The film tinkers with the concept of retrograde amnesia, and I had to tow a fine line to show that I was going through that problem and not exaggerate my expressions too much to make it seem quite dramatic,” the actress says. The film opened to mixed reviews upon its release; however, Sai Pallavi puts it in perspective saying, “I believe that whatever happens is for our own good. I’m grateful for the love and affection that people have showered upon me, and I like the space that I’m in. For the first time in my career, my mother told me that I looked like an actress, and not a girl-next-door, in this film (laughs). But people have embraced me as one of their own and I’ll always cherish that.”