Swati impresses in Kalavaramaye Madilo

Actress Swati has bowled everyone over with her outstanding performance in National award winning director Satish Kasetty's Telugu film Kalavaramaye Madilo, which released last week.

Radhika Rajamani caught up with Swati to talk about her fabulous act in the film.

Was it the script of Kalavaramaye Madilo that made you sign the film?

It was primarily the script. I had been hearing a lot of scripts after Ashta Chamma and Kalavaramaye Madilo was packaged in a very interesting way. People have seen the bubbly side of me in Ashta Chamma and the serious side in Subramaniapuram but Kalavaramaye Madilo was a neat blend of the two. I am not a fan of heroine-centric films or hero-centric films. It's the script that matters.

Had you watched Satish's Hope earlier? Did you know him?

When Subramaniapuram released, I had a preview in the morning and evening in Hyderabad. After the morning show, the word spread and a lot of people whom I didn't invite turned up. Satish garu was one of them. I didn't even know who he was. He introduced himself to me, watched the movie, praised me and left.

I remember meeting him later and he said he had seen Ashta Chamma five times, he loved the film and he has a script for me. He gave a call and then narrated the line.

He previewed Hope for my parents, Kamal (Kamaraju), me and everybody. When I saw Hope, I realised there is hope because the heavy intense emotion was very subtly handled.

The role of Shreya in Kalavaramaye Madilo was an exacting one. You had to show a kaleidoscope of emotions. Were you emotionally drained at the end of it?

The fact that I could do so many things in Shreya's role impressed me. It did not emotionally drain me while I was shooting. But when I was dubbing, I realised what I had done. It was difficult then because you don't have that atmosphere to cry and to sync it exactly with your lips, that little sniff, that intake of breath -- that's when it hits you. It was not difficult but challenging.

You play quite a chirpy character in the first half and in the second half, there is a lot of seriousness involved. How did you get into the skin of the character?

It's just spontaneity. I remember asking Satish garu if I had to do anything. I did not do any homework for the film because it's a regular normal city girl and a responsible one at that. Every girl has a little bit of everything. I'm sure any girl will relate to Shreya's role. All of us are bubbly and cheerful when we are happy and we get serious when something regarding our family happens. I could relate to it.

How did you cope with the music, especially the musical scenes?

More than me making an effort during the acting process, it was when I was doing the ragas scenes that I really concentrated. I asked them to give me the songs two-three days before so that I could learn them totally and go to the location. Unfortunately the songs weren't ready. I would get them only that morning. I would sit, learn and then go for my shot. We all wanted long shots and not small bits. It's beautiful watching such tough ragas going in one single lengthy shot.

Are you trained in music?

I wanted to go for classes. But Satish garu said it will break the character because Shreya doesn't know how to sing.

How exciting or demanding was role of Shreya for you as an actor?

It was demanding because this is not an extremely big budget film. It was a lot of hard, physical work. That's why it was demanding. We were working non-stop and for long schedules. You don't have A plus luxuries. But I had co-stars like Bharani garu and Vikram Gokhaleji. I enjoyed working with them.

Would this role remain close to your heart as it is hard to get a role like this in Telugu cinema today?

Definitely. I will be attached to it. When a film becomes a hit, people become close to the film. When it flops, they tend to ignore it even in their own careers. For me, all my characters, including the ones in Danger and Subramaniapuram are very, very close to my heart. This one is especially so because there is so much I have done in this film. I hope it is a revelation for the audience and the industry.

How was Satish as a director?

Satish garu has several shades to him. Sometimes he will let you do what you want to do and sometimes he will tell you what he wants whether you like it or not. That's good because that's how it should be.

In the first half, he let me do what I wanted, and later told me what he wanted. He's emotionally attached to the film and Shreya's character. He used to call me Shreya on the sets. He still thinks I'm Shreya. He says, if you win an award, I want to see my Shreya on stage.

How was it working with Kamal?

It was really nice working with Kamal. He's a thorough gentleman. I remember when I was first introduced to him, he said nice things about my acting. He's a disciplined guy, a real Virgo. He had a proper diet and made sure his clothes were right. It was good working with him.

Working with Vikram Gokhale and Bharani garu...

Amazing. I am going to cherish those working days of shooting with them forever. The way they carry themselves, the talent they have mixed with the humility is such a cute combination they have.

Vikramji used to call me beta and Bharani garu used to call me bachhi. Just the three of us used to have our own jokes between us. There used to be emotional heavy scenes but we used to laugh.

The first shot I did with Vikramji was a lengthy shot. Bharani garu and I finished the shot and he came up to me and said, wow and hugged me and said I'm sure it's going to be exciting working with you. So nice for him to encourage me.

I had already worked with Bharani garu for Ashta Chamma.

Have you signed any Telugu film now?

No, I haven't signed anything now. I'm just listening to scripts.