Prashanth Neel's 'Salaar: Cease Fire - Part 1' which released in theatres on December 22 is having a great run at the box office and it already crossed the Rs 300 crore mark in India. The film stars Prabhas and Prithviraj Sukumaran as the main leads. But one character, Radha Rama Mannar played by Sriya Reddy, stands out in the film. Sriya has made a comeback in the Telugu film industry and how. The actress played the female antagonist and did full justice to her character.
Sriya is currently on cloud nine with the overwhelming response she has received for her performance. She gave all the credit to Prashanth Neel for writing such a strong character for her. She also thanked him for keeping his promise to make her role stand out. The actress also opened up on working with Prabhas and Prithviraj Sukumaran, 'Salaar Part 2' and more.
Here are the excerpts from the interview.
Sriya, your performance has been loved so much by the audience. Were you expecting it?
I am happy to get such an overwhelming response. I don't know how to accept this whole thing but yeah, it will take some time for me to sink in.
I didn't expect that people would receive my character so well in terms of a comeback. I always thought people would say that 'you have acted well' but the way my character has been received, is phenomenal and that too to stand out in a male-dominated film. I feel that credit has to go to the director for believing that a woman can take centre stage. Hats off to him for thinking on those lines.
Earlier, in an interview you said that you told Prashanth Neel you wouldn’t come back to Telugu cinema unless your role was substantial. He promised that your character would stand out. Did he keep his promise?
Of course. I think we all have to start believing people because sometimes in life we stop believing people. He has reinstated the faith that you can start believing people when they say something. I am very happy with the way the character has come. Earlier, I was sceptical because I always believed that whatever you do you do where you can stand your own ground and sometimes people give you false hopes and promises, So that is the reason why I was also very scared. But this turned out to be the complete opposite. I am grateful more than anything else to Prashanth Neel. He could have any male antagonist but he chose to have a female antagonist and that itself shows the strength of who he is as a director.
In Tamil or Telugu films, or even for that matter in Hindi films, earlier women characters were seen or written as objects of desire. Do you think things have changed now?
It's such a great time for women to shine in films because I wouldn't have said the same things probably five or ten years ago. But today is a great space....we have great films, OTT and such amazing characters written for women. Even in the OTT space, I think they have a little more liberation in terms of writing stronger characters and I think it's brilliant. I am so happy that I am back at the time when great scripts are written for women and with such scripts and the character Radha Rama, I think more people will write characters like these for women.
How was it working with Prabhas and Prithviraj Sukumaran?
Anybody to make somebody else feel comfortable you have to be secure first. For Prashanth Neel, to write a character like this for a woman, he has to be a secure person. Likewise, Prabhas is a such secure person that he makes everybody feel so comfortable around him. Even Prithviraj is such an amazing person and a great actor. They were always very encouraging and gave confidence as well. I also feel that are very nice people and when you have such good human beings as your co-stars, everything becomes very easy.
Though you have played a very strong character yet we don't get to see more of you. Will we get to see more growth of your character in 'Salaar Part 2'?
The actual story unfolds only in Part 2 of Salaar. The real story of how each character is going to play only Prashanth can answer that question because none of us know. But I know for sure that it's going to be more exciting and crazy. Part 2 is always where the story unfolds. So, that's where the actual blast is going to happen. Radha Rama doesn't just come and sit down. She will be unleashed in Part 2.
Is there any chance of 'Salaar Part 3'?
For Part 1, everybody sacrificed so much you know. It's not just one-two year, it's three years we have given to the movie. I don't think it is humanly possible for somebody to....you are not just coming and directing it. I don't know if Prashanth has the bandwidth to do it. But let's just start with the second part.
Tell us about your upcoming projects
I am doing a film called OG with Pawan Kalyan. It's going to be an exciting character because I always believe that the more exciting the character is it is interesting for the audience to watch. After all, we want women to be doing different things. We don't want them to just stand pretty. I don't want for myself to look pretty. I want to be badass or do some flying kicks or action. Women are much more capable of just looking pretty. I really want to bring that aspect to the audience where I keep churning out doing different things. We don't only have to look pretty and do comedy. I can't do comedy and am terrible at it. Anything else that is thrown at me, I will definitely pick up. So, OG is going to be exciting.
Will you do Hindi films if you get offers?
I watch Hindi films. For me, the divide between the North and South is never there. If I am offered an interesting character I will definitely do. It doesn't matter whether it has superstars in it or not. But yeah, I am very particular about my character. It has to be fantastic and then only I will take it up.
