Exclusive! I am doing varied content-driven films to show people my range as an artiste: Chaitra J Achar

Chaitra J Achar, who debuted in Kannada cinema with Mahira, was last onscreen in Gilky, a film in which she played someone with cerebral palsy to great effect. In her next, Taledanda, she is almost unrecognizable as Saaki, a member of the Soliga tribe that lives in the Yellapura forests of Karnataka. A feature film about the conservation of nature, Taledanda is one of the last projects by the late Sanchari Vijay. In the teaser of the film, which releases in theatres on April 1, Chaitra’s character Saaki, speaks in the dialect of the Soliga tribe, something she picked up while shooting for Taledanda. In a conversation with OTTplay, Chaitra speaks about getting into the skin of Saaki, her attempt to not get typecast and more. Excerpts…

Playing Taledanda’s Saaki…

To play Saaki, the way I walk, talk and carry myself around mattered a lot and I spent a fair bit of time observing people from the tribe. We shot the film among them and every day my task would be to watch how the women sit, talk, laugh, etc., and imbibe those elements into my character. The lines, of course were memorized earlier, the how to deliver them came from observing actual tribals. They have a certain sing-song tone to the way they speak. That was fun, learning to be and even look like them. I had to get my teeth stained, and not comb my hair. The team even darkened my complexion a couple of shades to fit the look. In fact, when the late Sanchari Vijay and I were sitting among actual tribals and shooting the film, no one would even realize that we were only actors. We were near the Billigiriranga hills, where the tribe is located for the entire duration of the film. We had a couple of people from the tribe who would guide us on how to shoot the film.

My scenes are majorly with Vijay sir and Mangala ma’am, both of who are amazing actors. I had shot for Taledanda right after Mahira, so, it was only my second film and was still as good as a newcomer. And yet, on set, Vijay sir complimented my acting often and asked me where I had trained from. I am not a trained actor; I just like the process of acting. Vijay sir had told me back then to choose scripts carefully and do films like these, because they help you improve as an actor.

Vijay’s character, Kunna, is based on an actual person from Mysuru. There was an activist from the tribal community, who was intellectually-challenged, but concerned about preservation of nature and forests. The director had met him and was inspired to make this film, albeit a little more filmi. The intention of Taledanda is to make people introspect that if a person like Vijay sir’s character can fight for nature, what are we doing? The impact Saaki has on him adds drama to the narrative.

A preference for offbeat cinema…

I am not letting myself get typecast and am looking at variety of roles now. I don’t choose scripts in which I am only meant to be the glamour element, where, if you take out my character from the narrative, it doesn’t impact the film. I hate such films; I wouldn’t want to do something like that. Even if I get only a small role, it should have a big impact on the film, in the sense that if they were to remove or reduce my screen time on the editing table, it should affect the narrative. If that is the case, I will do it.

Also, I want to do roles that challenge me and are not monotonous. I shouldn’t get too comfortable doing my job. When I get a role, my first thought is, ‘What can I do to not make it overtly dramatic and yet bring some colour to the film and the character?’ Like, for instance, with Taledanda’s Saaki, ‘Who is she? What is she like? How does she talk to people? What are her interests?’ These are basic elements that I work on and so, when I get to the set, I am attuned to what Saaki would do and what she would not.

Having said that, I must add, though, that I am not saying that I will not do a commercial film or a very glamorous role; I will most definitely do it. I am an actor. But if you are giving me a five-minute role where I only have to look my glam best, pay me a lot of money to do it. It’s either about the pleasure of doing great work or getting paid handsomely for routine work. I don’t like people telling me what to do and what not to. I will choose. If I can do a very difficult role, I can do a glam role too. It is like any other character. No one has the right to tell me that I belong to a certain section of actors and can only do xyz kind of characters. I have never put a boundary to myself. For instance, if I am given a role in a big star’s film and my screen presence is quite limited, I will give my best so that people remember me in even those five minutes. I wouldn’t choose a five-minute role, but if I had to do it, I will make sure that it is worth it. I will do everything and anything, as long as I love the script and like what I am doing. Even if I have to wear a bikini, it should be like, ‘how do I work out to make sure I look the sexiest?’ That will be my mindset.

But yes, I have chosen content-driven films so far in my fledgling career. For instance, in one of my upcoming films, Happy Birthday To Me, I play a stoner chick, where I smoke weed and sport a different look. And yet the role is quite glam. In real life, I don’t smoke. For me, playing this character was different and it was a funny commercial script. There was content in it. I dig that too. There have been discussions for roles in big-budget hardcore commercial films, but I am trying to see where I can put myself and how I will be doing it. So far, from the lot that I have got, I have chosen the more content-driven ones. This is still the initial stage of my career and I want to make sure that people realize that I can be moulded into anything that they want me to do. I want to give them the confidence that Chaitra is capable of anything, now let’s see what we can give her. Currently, I am thinking of quality over quantity, but once that base is set, over the years, I believe the films coming to me will be good. By doing these vividly different films, I have given people a range to choose from I feel good about my choices and I am hoping people see with what intention I have done this.

A very busy 2022…

I began the year with the release of Gilky, in which I played Nancy, a girl with severe cerebral palsy. Up next there is Taledanda, followed by Strawberry, which is a Paramvah Spotlight production (Rakshit Shetty’s banner), an untitled travel-based thriller by Lakshya Arts, and a sci-fi film called Blink along with Dheekshith Shetty. A lot of these films were taken up before the pandemic/lockdowns, but everything is heading into production now, so it looks like I am doing films back-to-back.

Recently, I also signed a film called Akatakata by the producer of Puksatte Lifeu Nagaraj Somayaji, which will start in June…he had directed a short film called Best Actor. I have seen it and know what he can do as a director. I like his judgement and that is why I have taken it.

More singing on the cards?

I sang Sojugada from last year’s Garuda Gamana Vrishabha Vahana, which was widely appreciated. I am a trained singer and would love to explore that side of me more.