As Thammudu gears up for its release on July 4th, actress Varsha Bollamma opens up about her most challenging role yet. Known for her diverse choices, Varsha delves into the intense preparations, the rugged filming experience in dense forests, and the compelling female characters that drive this highly anticipated film.
For Bigil, I learned football. It was taxing to shoot for that movie in scorching heat. After that movie, Thammudu is the most challenging one. My wait for an interesting part was answered by this movie. Thammudu is an intense story. I learned martial arts for the role, a process I thoroughly enjoyed. This is the most demanding role in my career.
Director Venu Sriram told me first thing that the film would be set in a dense forest. I found it challenging. The forest scenes could have been shot in an artificial studio environment. But the director wanted everything to be authentic. The night scenes necessitated us to hold a torch while navigating the paths.
This is my second film under Sri Venkateswara Creations. Jaanu was my first one. They auditioned me for Thammudu and was selected after a look-test. I was told to stick to the script and not on improves. This was a far cry from what the approach was like during the making of Middle Class Melodies.
From the movie's trailers, it is evident that there is a great women power in Thammudu. It will be a power-packed narrative where the female characters do more than just crying. No female character is unimportant. Chitra is my character's name. She becomes a driving force in Jay's journey (Jay is played by Nithiin). Chitra is unhesitant. She is also into action. Some action blocks have come out amazingly well. Thammudu is best watched in theatres. It's a visual and aural treat.
As a performer, I don't believe in drawing a line between lead and character roles. I want my performance to be accepted and appreciated by the audience. In this regard, one must name Nithya Menon as an ideal. In Thammudu, my character doesn't have a love story. If there was one, it would have looked forced.
Nithiin is not reserved. He is fun to be with. We faced network issues in the forest. As such, we were technically cut off from the world. So, we had no choice but to talk with each other and have a blast.
I recently acted in Constable Kanakam, a web series. I am also part of another web assignment. On the film front, I am doing two movies.
I would like to play a psycho killer. I like the whimsicality of the characters in unpredictable thrillers.
