If Killing Veerappan had made Yagna Shetty a pan-Indian actor, Lakshmi’s NTR which is her straight Telugu film is sure to bring her close to the Telugu audience. Yagna speaks Tulu but she picked up Kannada and now speaks it fluently and has completed around 17 films in Kannada so far.

She is known to the Kannada audience as a serious performer. “I am glad meaningful roles come to me, specifically those that highlight my performance. This began with my second film Eddelu Manjunatha where I was lauded for being natural.I got typecast from then on with each film; I was known for content packed serious acting. Initially I felt I was playing mature characters not suitable for my age but since people appreciated my talent, I didn’t mind being labelled like that. I don’t think I have the glamour quotient, even if I do a small role be it only 30 minutes, people say I do a good job. I make sure I pick such roles now. I don’t do two songs and vanish. I became picky, because people think I can pull off difficult characters,” says Yagna with confidence.

‘RGV is a great technician’

Yagna has done two films so far with director Ramgopal Varma and she feels he perceives characters brilliantly and edits the scenes in his mind very well. He is a great technician and knows how to get the best from his subject.

A still from ‘Lakshmi’s NTR’ with Yagna Shetty  

She shares, “When I played Muthu Lakshmi in Killing Veerappan, all he told me was not ape her but just depict his perception of Muthu Lakshmi. Ditto with Lakshmi Parvathi from Lakshmi’s NTR. I get to learn so much from him. Both his films had me doing natural acting and the roles he gave me are both real life characters, not fictional. At times it is scary, it is a responsibility because I am reprising them. I am aware that judgements will always be there. Muthu Lakshmi was a bandit spy and she had a certain image, I had to portray that. Towards the end of the film, people felt sympathy for her, they felt she hasn’t done anything wrong but she actually suffered. She loved her husband unconditionally. Yes, there was pressure on me while I played Lakshmi Parvathi.”

She cites the reasons, there were two sets of people; one supporting Lakshmi Parvathi and the other felt she was a villain. Ramgopal Varma narrated whatever was in the public domain Yagna thinks there is always an audience for biopics.

She says, “There’s always a side that we don’t know about these personalities. The film is from Lakshmi Parvathi’s point of view and it is shown with a different perspective. I have been told not to talk much about it, but NTR will be shown in a different angle not shown so far. I didn’t ape her. I just followed what RGV told me. It is a prominent character and both the main characters are in the title.”

Yagna adds, “I am sceptical because Telugu isn’t my mother tongue and the character I am portraying is a gold medallist in Telugu literature and someone who has a good grip of Sanskrit too.”

Recollecting her practice in Telugu diction and pronunciation, Yagna says she loves taking up a challenge and she was kicked to reprise Lakshmi Parvathi who is a good speaker. Sometimes she was given two pages scene and it had to be taken in one shot, she made sure she was thorough with her dialogues.

She quips, “My script is in English and when I reel off a dialogue it shouldn’t sound like I simply memorised it. I was surrounded by good Telugu speakers and they all helped me. I hope to give my interview in Telugu in future,” she smiles.

Finally ask her what she perceived of Lakshmi Parvathi and NTR from the film, she says firmly that Lakshmi Parvathi is definitely not shrewd and not as hard as people portray her and also not ambitious.

She avers, “Based on the info I have, all NTR found in LP was companionship and they connected on an intellectual level as she was well read. He had an admiration and respect for people who excelled in literary works and they had many conversations of literary figures. She was the support system in his last years of his life. He respected her and she would call him ‘Swami’. This is what I personally felt.”