Ruk-star in Tollywood

This gorgeous girl is elated and has every reason to be so. Kicked about her next film, in which she stars opposite Tollywood’s hit machine Nani, actress Rukshar is on a high. Titled Krishnarjuna Yudham, Rukshar’s next Telugu flick will hit the screens on April 12..

Talking about how she bagged the big project, the actor reveals, “My other Telugu film Aakatayi did well and my work was appreciated. Post that, I had meetings lined up and I met Merlapeka Gandhi, the director of Krishnarjuna Yudham.” 

After two months, they called me and I did a look test and they liked it. We started shooting in August and now, we have around ten days of shoot left.”

As for working with actor Nani, who’s known for his consistently successful work, Rukshar says, “I prefer to be as natural as possible when acting, and considering Nani is called ‘Natural Star’, acting with him was enlightening - he was effortless.

When I felt like I was doing a bit too much, watching him helped me mellow down.  He also gave me suggestions on how to make a scene look better and was happy with the kind of work I did. He said that the Telugu industry had found a good actor in me.”

As a person, her famous co-star is a chilled out bloke who’s fun to hang out with, shares Rukshar.  “He was calm and I never felt anxious around him even though he’s a big star,” she adds. So, how did she manage to work on the film without any knowledge of Telugu? “Language wasn’t a problem at all. I’d been given a script and I’d do my homework well in advance and everything went on smoothly. In fact, I was speaking like a Telugite and the team was surprised as to how I delivered the dialogue,” she says.

The actress is all praise for the south indu stry, which she feels is no less than Bolly wood. “Work ing here felt nothing less than a Hindi film set. From the budget to the styling to the technical aspect, everything seemed on par with the Hindi industry. It was only the language that was different. As for acting in Hindi films, when the time is right, things will happen.”

Having moved to Bengaluru when she was in the ninth grade, Rukshar now calls this city her home. “My family lives here. I often visit Mumbai and now Hyderabad for work,” says the Punjabi kudi, born in London and brought up in Goa. Ask her what kind of roles she’d like to do in the future and she replies, “If I’m given a script and I like it and feel like I can do justice to the role, I’ll take it up. I’m honest with myself, if I feel I can’t do it, I won’t do it. The character should appeal to me and I should be able to connect with it.”