Before I Sign A Film, I View It As An Audience: Sai Pallavi

Actress Sai Pallavi, who is gearing up for Gargi, an emotional courtroom drama that hits the theatres this Friday, is drawn towards signing films that she would see in the theatre. In an interview with Ramya Subramanian, the actress opens up about the thrill of playing good roles and her concious decision to not take pressure while doing so.

"I don't take the pressure. It only counts if I take the pressure, otherwise it doesn't. At the end of the day, I'm just an actor. I think about the movies I'd like to see in the theatre and from there, I take it forward. So, before I sign a film, I view it as an audience. If as an audience I'm entertained and involved in the story, then I'm in it," she says.

The idea of the audience cheering for a good character gives her the thrill. "If my heart isn't in it completely, I feel a little bit of disconnect and I don't go back home with the thrill. I look forward to scripts that make me feel this crazy about films," she says, adding that switching on and off between characters in the middle of shoots for films can be challenging.

"It was only during the lockdown that all my movies began to come together — Shyam-Singha-Roy, Love Story, Virata Parvam and Gargi. It was only when this happened I realised that I needed to focus on how true I was to each story and to continue doing that. So, this time it was a little challenging for me to be true (to the character) because for instance if I'm loud in Virata Parvam, I don't need to be that in my other movies," the actress says.

Among the films in her pipeline is Rajkumar Periasamy's film, alongside Sivakarthikeyan. "I didn't look at it as a Rajkumar sir film or a Sivakarthikeyan film. Like I said, I read the script as an audience. I'd like to talk more about it when I am done shooting for it because it is a very dear film to me," the actress says, signing off.