Milana Nagaraj: Filmmakers who approach Krishna for roles see me as the buy one get one offer

Milana Nagaraj began her filmi career a decade ago with Nam Duniya Nam Style, a film that also starred her now husband Darling Krishna. Since then, the duo has done Charlie, Love Mocktail 1 and 2, Mr Bachelor and Love Birds together and now, they will yet again be seen together onscreen in the upcoming Kousalya Supraja Rama. For the longest time, director Shashank had not revealed that Milana was a part of his film, but as the release date drew close, he suggested she be a part of the promotional activities, in support of Krishna. It was only with the trailer that Shashank let the world know that Milana also has a role in Kousalya Supraja Rama.

But even before Kousalya Supraja Rama, there have been occasional discussions on social media about Krishna and Milana doing way too many films together, which the actress addressed at the trailer launch of the film. She said, “I have a problem now. When filmmakers meet Krishna for story narrations, I also sit in as part of the discussion. They then come back a few days later, and would still be on the lookout for a heroine. So, they ask Krishna if I would be willing to do the role. He will then suggest that they speak to me and the conversation usually goes like, ‘Milana, will you do the role? You can only do it, right?’ Honestly, it’s become like a buy one get one situation – you come for Krishna and get me too.”

In Shashank’s case, though, Milana says that it was a little different. The filmmaker had approached Krishna and agreed to collaborate, but did not broach the subject of getting her onboard. “A month later, he returned and said that he wanted to narrate the story to me. I told him that I already knew the story, but he insisted that he wanted to tell me about my character. It crossed my mind that this was going to be a repeat of earlier instances, but when I heard about the role, there were multiple thoughts. For starters, the character was very good and, probably, the most challenging in my career. The film would also give me the opportunity to collaborate with a filmmaker like Shashank sir. But then comes the problem of the pairing being repeated too often. In fact, I told Shashank sir that I was not confident that I could pull off the role and there was a lot of to and fro between us and it seemed that I would not do the film, after all. But then he said that this is a character that needed an experienced artiste with acting prowess and that is why he insisted I do it. That was the clincher for me,” she says.

Kousalya Supraja Rama, which Shashank has co-produced with actor-politico BC Patil, will be in theatres on July 28. The film also stars Brinda Acharya, Nagabhushana, Rangayana Raghu, Sudha Belawadi and Achyuth Kumar in pivotal roles.