The new Pawan Kalyan rabblerouser Agnyaathavaasi, which opened on Wednesday, marks the return of Tamil veteran actress Kushboo to Telugu cinema after 10 years.
Speaking exclusively to this writer, Kushboo, a busy politician these days with the Congress party, took time off to explain why she chose to make a comeback in a Pawan Kalyan film.
Says the actress who was last seen in Telugu in S S Rajmouli's costume drama Yamadonga, "I have been away from cinema, and not just in Telugu, for a long time. For me to do a film again, especially in Telugu, it was very important that I play a very vital role and I loved my role in Agnyaathavaas when director Trivikram offered me this."
In fact, the director says Kushboo, who at one point did films simultaneously in Tamil, Telugu, Malayalam and Kannada, was adamant that she would do the role.
“After 10 years to do a film in Telugu it had to be a special one. Agnyathavaasi is that special one. The entire set-up was very appealing and eventually rewarding. Pawan and the crew treated me like a member of their family. Trivikram had offered me films earlier. But I was not very keen then as I did not like the roles. This time he came to me and said, 'Ma'am, you cannot say no to this.' And I didn't say no. How could I? He made an offer I couldn't resist."
Kushboo says she enjoyed working with Pawan Kalyan. "Pawan is a very cool co-star. He's a man of a few words but very comfy to work with."
Sadly, Kushboo has not been able to dub her own Telugu lines in Agnyaathavaas. "I speak Telugu very well. But my voice was dubbed by Sarita. Does that take away from my performance in Agnyaathavaas? No, I don't think so. That character needed a voice like Sarita's," she concluded.
