Tamannaah on why Kanne Kalaimaane resonates with her, working with Udhay, and That is Mahalakshmi

When Tamannaah Bhatia was roped in to play one of the female leads in National Award-winning filmmaker Seenu Ramasamy’s Dharma Durai, starring Vijay Sethupathi, the film set the cash registers ringing by becoming a solid hit at the box-office. Her second collaboration with Ramasamy, Kanne Kalaimaane, also stars Udhayanidhi Stalin and released on 22 February. “After I completed shooting for Kanne Kalaimaane, I did a few other films and almost forgot what this film was about. During a preview or a special screening of my film, I would always think about what I could have done better. But when I happened to watch Kanne Kalaimaane, it was Bharathi (her character name) I saw the entire two hours. I couldn’t stop myself connecting with her and shed tears,” said Tamannaah in a group interaction. [caption id=“attachment_4240135” align=“alignnone” width=“825”]  Tamannah Bhatia. Image from Facebook/@Tamannah[/caption] “I don’t remember a day when I was sobbing on the sets, but Bharathi’s character moved me. After one particular sequence, I couldn’t control my tears that Seenu sir caught me crying. There are different ways one can sketch or define a strong woman. And Seenu sir has done a fantastic job in establishing a bold woman on screen that’s as fresh as what I did in Dharma Durai. He is one among the very few in the industry who can understand me and make me feel new onscreen,” said Tamannaah. Tamannaah, who is also part of Telugu director Surender Reddy’s magnum-opus Sye Raa Narasimha Reddy, says she would love to work with Udhayanidhi Stalin again. “I would like to request Udhay sir to consider me for his next film as well. Such has been my experience working with him in Kanne Kalaimaane. Bharathi and Kannan (Udhay’s character) are one of my most favorite on-screen pairings in my career, and I will always cherish this experience.” From Thenmerku Paruvakaatru to Dharma Durai, Seenu Ramasamy’s films are known for their strong women. “I liked the way he portrays women in his movies, and I’m still learning about representation. Not just a lead heroine’s character, I’m impressed by the way he defines the supporting female artists too. He knows the degree of influence this medium has on the audience and makes a very conscious effort to make it better with every film of his. There’s strong feminism told with love, drama and lots of emotions. The film can be screened in any part of the world and the audience can still understand the emotions without the need for subtitles. The film still resonates so strongly with me,” said Tamannaah. Yuvan Shankar Raja has composed the music for Kanne Kalaimaane. “Yuvan sir’s presence in my career is so strong from Paiya. Usually, audiences will be disconnected from the story for a few minutes when there’s a song. But in this film, Yuvan has made sure that music becomes a character too that the audience will not want to do something else,” she said. Tamannaah is also gearing up for the release of That’s Mahalakshmi, which is an official remake of Hindi blockbuster Queen which was headlined by Kangana Ranaut. “Kangana is an inspiration to many young actors, and she’s the boss in whatever she’s doing. Doing a remake is quite tricky because it’s imperative to retain the essence of the original and we have to make sure that the sensibilities of the audiences are matched.” Tamannaah has also wrapped up the shooting of Devi 2 with Prabhu Deva, a sequel to the hit horror comedy Devi helmed by Vijay. And, she has already started 2019 on an extremely positive with the blockbuster success of F2: Fun and Frustration, which has become of the biggest profit earners in Tollywood.