'Killing Veerappan' by far is my best performance: Parul Yadav

Mumbai: South actress Parul Yadav who will soon be seen in the multilingual film 'Killing Veerappan', says that getting a call for the role from director Ram Gopal Varma was nothing short of a miracle.

“It was a funny incident actually. I didn’t believe it when RGV called me to offer the role. I thought it was a prank call so I hung up on him. Then I cross-checked the number and got to know that it really was him!” Parul recalls.

The actress adds that it was exciting to do a non-glam role. “I’m known for my glamour quotient but I am also known to be a very strong actor and for the first time, I am not doing a glamourous film. There’s no make-up. For the very first time in my career I am doing a character which is real, which is non-fictional,” she says.

In Killing Veerappan, Parul portrays a 20-year old who was randomly picked by police to be part of a dangerous operation against Veerappan.

“The character I play in the film is real. She was very much associated with this operation. She was a normal, soft-spoken girl, who was randomly picked up by the police force and was part of the entire operation. I didn’t meet her in person but I did see her picture and her story filled me with excitement. Based on RGV’s research over eight years and whatever he narrated about the character, I have portrayed exactly the same,” Parul says.

While shooting for an action sequence, the actress suffered a ligament tear in her knee but kept going and finished the shot. “I did the entire scene by myself but by the evening I had lost my toe nail, my knee was injured and my ligament was completely ruptured and soon enough, I collapsed. Eventually, doctors picked me up and took me away. But I don’t have any complaints because I was very excited about doing the stunt,” she adds.

After working with RGV, Parul is all praise for the filmmaker. She says, “I have grown up watching his films... After I said yes to the film, a lot of people warned me that working with RGV is tough. But with all due respect to the other directors that I have worked with, he has been my favourite so far. I wouldn’t mind working with him again. He has brought the best out of me in this film.”

Veerappan, who was shot dead in 2004, has been the subject of a few films and TV docudramas. What makes Killing Veerappan different from the others? “Basically, this is the last operation, it’s about how it happened, who all were involved and I’m sure (most) people wouldn’t know about it,” Parul tells us.

Talking about her co-star Shiva Rajkumar, the actress feels overwhelmed with his child like curiosity and enthusiasm to learn and better his work. “When I met Shiva Rajkumar sir, who has done more than 100 films, I had this preconceived notion that he would know every frame but to my surprise, he has a curiosity like a child. He would always ask RGV ‘What do you want? Do you want this shot like this or like that?’ Even after doing so many films, he is curious to learn. As an actor, I learnt to always be enthusiastic from him,” Parul concludes with a smile.