Anasuya Bharadwaj: Chiranjeevi is the only actor I am left to work with from the ‘mega family’

Anasuya Bharadwaj is part of Pushpa starring Allu Arjun in the lead role.

Photo credit: Anasuya Bharadwaj/Facebook.

A popular name in Tollywood, actress Anasuya Bharadwaj is recently being lauded for her role as a pregnant woman in the movie, Thank You Brother.

While enjoying the success closer to her birthday on May 15, Anasuya talks to OTTplay about working in Allu Arjun’s Pushpa, if she would take up Bollywood offers and why she wants to work with Chiranjeevi.

How is the response for Thank You Brother?

My state of mind before the release was - people will either like it or completely shun it. I’m getting good responses on Twitter. One of the perks of social media is getting direct feedback, and I’m overwhelmed.

Is there a compliment that stayed with you?

I won’t be able to share that, but I personally feel proud of the film because I don’t think any filmmaker has shown a delivery like this one. Of course, my director took inspiration from a Nigerian film called Elevator Baby. Interestingly, he was also part of that film. I loved the fact that actors had a lot of scope to perform in Thank You Brother.

Did you shoot this during the partial lockdown?

Yes, we shot during Unlock 2.0 with a lot of precautions. I remember it was September to October, when there were heavy rains. The team shot for 18 days, out of which I was there for 10 days. We shot according to the screenplay, and with limited cast and crew. My portions being with my backstory that had just three actors, and then it leads to the elevator scene with just two people. It was definitely one of the most inspiring filming experiences I ever had, making the most of the resources that were available and staying safe at the same time. None of us were infected on the sets.

What are your upcoming projects?

I have a good line-up of films, but I don’t know when they will release. So, right now I’m part of Rangamatandav, which is an official remake of the Marathi blockbuster Natsamrat. I’m part of Pushpa, Khiladi and two web series. I’m also making my debut in Tamil and Malayalam. The shooting for the Tamil project is done and is now in post-production. In Malayalam, I’ll debut with megastar Mammukka (Mammootty) in Bheeshma Parvam and we are half done with the film.

Have you started shooting for the web series?

My team has. My part will come much later. So I’m just waiting. I’m really kicked about my character and look in it. I’m liking the person I’m becoming.

Do you have any expectations before going to shoot for a webseries?

I’m just looking forward to the experience. People usually ask me to tell them the difference between shooting for TV and films, and I just tell them it’s the camera that I’m facing which I love. Maybe there will be a difference of work culture. It’s a very young and passionate team. (Telugu actress) Niharika Konidela is also a part of the project. Now that I think of it, people do tell me that I have some magic spell on the ‘mega family’. It just organically happened actually. I’m yet to act with the Megastar, Chiru (Chiranjeevi) sir, himself though.

What is the update on Pushpa?

I shot for Pushpa for five days. We were going to start another schedule when Bunny (Allu Arjun) tested positive. I’m happy that he has recovered well. We were all looking to start the schedule but now there’s the lockdown, so no idea how we will go about it.

Do you have plans of joining Bollywood anytime soon?

We will see about that once Pushpa is out, as it is a pan-Indian film. Language is no barrier for me. I speak Hindi better than Telugu, and I’m married to a North Indian. I look forward to being part of Hindi films, but it has to happen organically.

Apart from Jabardasth, do you have more TV shows in the pipeline?

I used to. Before lockdown, I had my hands full with shows on every Telugu channel. I had almost six shows, which were aired at prime time.

Are you planning to sign more webseries?

Right now, I’m part of two web series. Working in the OTT space is better as there is a lot more content that we can explore, and reach out to wider audiences. Right now we sit at home and watch Netflix, Amazon Prime and all these OTTs. We see Spanish, German, French content, which has brought the world so much closer. In fact, OTT is already the next big thing, thanks to the COVID-19 situation.

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