Nightmares in real life

After her debut film Break Up sank without a trace, Swathi hopes that Patta Pagalu will propel her into the big league. “DoP Satish Muthyala, with whom I worked in my previous film, showed the trailer of Break Up to RGV. RGV sir called me over and narrated the script and to my surprise, asked me if I liked it. I signed the film then and there and the shoot began the next day,” says Swathi.

It is not easy to play a ghost and Swathi says, “I had no training at all. The worst part is that I am scared of ghosts and I have never watched any horror films. My character was hard to play, but RGV guided me throughout the shoot. At the shoot, after my make-up sessions, I never dared to look at myself in the mirror. I knew I would scare myself,” she adds.

A still from the film Patta Pagalu

“There was this one scene which I think I will always be scared of. I had to shout and abuse Rajasekhar sir. After the scene was shot, everyone around were staring at me as if I was a real ghost and that freaked me out a lot. And then the next moment, I turned around to see RGV clapping and appreciating my work,” she says, adding that Patta Pagalu gave her nightmares in real life.

“Throughout the shoot and even after that, I was being haunted every night. I would remember every scene from the film and would not sleep. And this happened for two months or even more,” she says.

About working with RGV and Rajasekhar, Swathi says, “RGV is a cool person and is very down to earth. Rajasekhar sir was my guide on the sets.”

“My family and friends appreciated my work, but today, I hardly receive calls from friends and they text me saying that they are scared to meet me after watching the trailer,” she says.