Kaaka Muttai to Daddy: Aishwarya Rajessh on Bollywood lessons and bagging Mani Ratnam’s next

From playing the mother of two slum children in the National Award-winning Tamil film Kaaka Muttai, actress Aishwarya Rajessh has come a long way as her Bollywood debut Daddy (starring Arjun Rampal as gangster-turned-politician Arun Gawli), hit the screens on Friday. She is currently in the best phase of her career and she can’t stop enthusing over how things have panned out for her, especially on the career front, in the last two years.

“I had eight releases last year but they were all Tamil films. Daddy is my fifth release of this year and 2017 has been very special because I ventured into other industries as well. I did two Malayalam films and both were very well received. I have been choosy this year but my choices have worked,” she told Firstpost in an exclusive chat.

In Ashim Ahluwalia’s Daddy, Aishwarya plays Asha Gawli. When quizzed if she ever dreamt of a career in Bollywood, she said, “I didn’t even aspire to be an actress. I wanted to act in TV serials and the goal was to make some money and settle down. Even when I started acting in movies, I never thought I’d come this far. However, having reached this stage in a short span of time, I’ve realised I have a long way to go. The recognition I have got so far for my work will push me to pursue challenging roles. Even though I have done a Kaaka Muttai and films like Dharma Durai and Sakhavu, I still feel a fully satisfying role hasn’t come my way yet.”

Recalling how she landed an opportunity to work in Daddy, Aishwarya said she got a call from an assistant director when she was shooting for Tamil film Kattappava Kaanom. “We were shooting this film on a tight budget and were racing against time. This meant we couldn’t miss any dates and stick to the schedule.” It was around the same time that she got a call from the team of Daddy. “I was told they want to audition me for a role. I was curious to know why I was even considered in the first place. They told me they saw Kaaka Muttai at a screening in Mumbai and liked my work. I was the last person to be signed for Daddy,” she said, adding she was quite apprehensive about the offer.

Aishwarya didn’t know how to adjust her dates for Daddy as she was already committed to Kattappava Kaanom. “Irrespective of the size of a project, when I sign a film I give it my all. I didn’t want to leave a Tamil film because of Daddy. I was even ready to let go of the opportunity to finish my Tamil film. But I knew I’d be making a mistake if I miss doing Daddy, so I decided to give the audition anyway. I requested the director of my Tamil film to adjust my dates but he couldn’t promise me anything as he was a newcomer and he was under tremendous pressure.” Aishwarya went ahead and gave her auditions, with very little hope of being selected.

A week later, she received a call from Arjun Rampal, but she didn’t believe it was him. “I received the call around 10.30 pm and when the person on the other end of the line introduced himself as Arjun Rampal, I hung up. I thought it was a prank call. When he called again, I put the call on speaker and asked my brother to find out if it was Arjun’s voice. My brother confirmed his voice and only then I continued the call. Arjun said he liked my audition and asked me if I can fly to Mumbai the next morning. I couldn’t believe I was on board but I wanted to embrace the moment.”

On the sets of Daddy, it was a different world altogether. Aishwarya had not seen such a busy set and she was naturally very nervous. “There were around 200 crew members and each one had a walkie-talkie. In Tamil films, only the direction department uses walkie-talkie. But on the sets of Daddy, even the spot boy was using a walkie-talkie. It was all very new for me and I hadn’t seen such a big team. The whole of the first day I sat in the caravan, waiting to be called for my shot. In my introduction shot, I had to lift the veil of my burqa and scold Arjun. I have never spoken Hindi in my entire life and I was finding it very difficult to memorise and deliver my lines,” she said.

Arjun put Aishwarya at ease and helped her pick up the dialogues. He practised dialogues with her. “He’d explain my dialogues and then make me deliver the lines in Tamil first. When I spoke in Tamil, I would get the emotion of the scene right. We’d shoot the next take in Hindi.” The Bollywood experience boosted Aishwarya’s confidence. “When I shoot for Tamil films now, I feel a lot more confident. Having played a character like Asha Gawli, about whom we knew very little when we were shooting, I believe I can play any character easily today.”

Aishwarya will next be seen in Vikram’s Dhruva Natchathiram and she also has Dhanush’s Vada Chennai. But the biggest project of all will be Mani Ratnam’s next yet-untitled multilingual film. “I’m thrilled to be teaming up with Mani sir. It’s been my long-time desire to work with him and I’m sure every actor would feel the same. The film has three heroes and I’m not sure with whom I’ll be paired,” she said, signing off.