Exclusive! Aditi Prabhudeva: 'Audience won't even feel that I'm on a break, I have so many films up for release'

By her own admission, Aditi Prabhudeva never deemed marriage to be a deterrent to her acting career. "For me, life extends beyond cinema and success," she says, suggesting that if the new phase of her life brings about a hiatus, of sorts, in her professional life, she wouldn't be too bothered about it. "I have spent the majority of my time as an actress being very cautious and timid, although I don't look that way on the exterior. But ever since Yashas (her now-husband) has come into my life, I feel so much more liberated because he's got my back," adds Aditi.

And like any actor worth their salt, Aditi has chosen to not let the clamour around bother her too much and instead allowed her work to do all the talking. As one of the most sought-after actors of her generation, Aditi has had an eventful 2022 to her name, with films like Old Monk, Thothapuri, Triple Riding, etc., and she will see off the year on a rather intriguing note with Once Upon a Time in Jamaligudda. The film, which is scheduled to release on December 30, also stars Dhananjaya, Yash Shetty, Prakash Belawadi, and Bhavana Ramanna, among others, will feature Aditi Prabhudeva as the female lead Rukmini.

Speaking about the film in a recent interview with a media outlet, Aditi says, "When I first heard the story from Kushal sir, I was reminded of an S.L. Bhyrappa novel. The vividness of the world, the characters - it felt like you were part of that setting and his narration really transported me. And luckily, the film was shot exactly how I imagined it, thanks to our wonderful D.o.P Karthik. Even the actors' looks, our director ensured nothing felt over glamourized or synthetic on the screen and my character too is quite close to reality."

Reportedly, writer-director Kushal Gowda has based Once Upon a Time in Jamaligudda on an incident that occurred in his life many years ago, involving a spa. The film is set in the 1990s and was extensively shot in Malanad and Gokarna.

And as far as the rumoured "break" from acting is concerned, Aditi says that considering the number of films that are lined up to release in 2023, one might not feel that she is away from the action for a long period of time. "You take one look at my filmography and you will realize that I have many films slated to release in the coming months. There's Jamaligudda now, Thothapuri 2, Andodittu Kaala, Mafia, etc. lined up to release later on so even if take a break from acting for 3-4 months, audiences won't feel that I was gone for long. And anyway, I don't see those couple of months as a "break"," she says.