10th Class Diaries, a nostgalic ride: Avika Gor

Avika Gor finds it refreshing to work in the Telugu film industry. Her upcoming 10th Class Diaries, directed by Garuda Vega fame Anji, is about reunion and roots. The actress says that she went on a nostalgia trip while filming. “I definitely miss my friends from Class X, and sometimes I feel like calling them up to reminisce about those days,” she says, thanking producers Achut Rama Rao and Ravi Teja Manyam for giving her a feel-good script.

“I play Chandini, a free-spirited, vibrant soul, but she’s restrained and is not allowed to express herself. In life we have certain boundaries, but there are people who break the barriers and lead their life, and that’s what Chandini wants to do,” reveals Avika, adding that there’s a lot of drama and suspense around her character.

Avika says in real life she’s nothing like Chandini. Her parents have been very encouraging, she stresses.

The character is a lot older than Avika is, and she had to make a few adjustments in her appearance as well as work on her body language. “I had to look different, my shoulders had to droop, for instance,” she shares. “For the first time I realised the importance of body language,” the actress says, and adds that she completely trusted her director.

Avika has another film — the Naga Chaitanya-starrer Thank You, in which she plays an important role, while in her earlier film, #Bro, she played  Naveen Chandra’s sister.  She’s been in the industry for around eight years and Avika feels the Telugu audience naturally expects her to be different in every film.

“People like Amitabh Bachchan sir have inspired me to pick up wacky characters and different roles because it brings out different sides of us. For instance, in #Bro, there’s more depth and an emotional edge to my character,” she explains.

It’s been a roller coaster ride for her as an actress. Avika says the biggest change has been her willingness to experiment. “I didn’t believe in myself earlier, and did not discover that side of myself. When filmmakers saw me being ready for unusual roles, they started offering them to me,” says Avika, who ascribes her change in approach to acting to her physical transformation.

Her weight-loss journey, leading to physical metamorphosis, did take some time, but it made her realise that she can push herself looks-wise too, and that was exciting, the actress says.

In late 2020, Avika had admitted being in a relationship with Milind Chandwani. When we ask whether she is planning to walk down the aisle soon, she replies, “Not at all. We have a lot of work coming up.”

She however reveals that being in a relationship has changed her. “It gave me more confidence. It also made me a little more aware of my capabilities and because of that my perspective on choosing quirky roles has changed. ‘If not now, then when?’ has become my attitude,” she says.