The Chennai-bred Telugu girl Aishwarya Rajesh made the Telugu film industry and the audience notice her with her performance in Kausalya Krishnamurthy. Next, she will be seen in director Kranti Madhav’s World Famous Lover that releases on February 14, where she stars alongside Vijay Deverakonda, Raashi Khanna, Izabelle Leite and Catherine Tresa. She has also been signed by director Shiva Nirvana for Tuck Jagadeesh starring Nani and Ritu Varma.
In an interview with MetroPlus, Aishwarya discloses that she was signed for World Famous Lover even before Kausalya Krishnamurthy. Aishwarya Rajesh is actor Rajesh’s daughter and comedian Srilakshmi’s niece. She debuted in 2010 and has done several Tamil and Malayalam films. A natural and an intense performer, she carved a niche for herself.
On her entry into Telugu cinema through Kausalya Krishnamurthy, she says, “Producer K S Rama Rao liked Kanaa (Tamil) and bought the remake rights for Telugu. We completed shooting in 45 days and released it.”
Still from ‘World Famous Lover’ with Seenayya (Vijay Deverakonda) and Suvarna (Aishwarya Rajesh)
While she was appreciated for her performance, the film didn’t fare well at the box office. Aishwaya admits that she was disappointed, “It released a little ahead of Saaho and it went out of theatres soon. People need at least one week to realise what a movie is about to come to the theatres. People think twice before spending time and money to watch a newcomer on screen. However, people who have seen it on television recently are loving it.”
She was busy in Tamil films but didn’t get many good offers from Telugu. She says candidly, “I was doing content oriented films in other languages (Tamil and Malayalam). Times have changed, and now Telugu directors are approaching me. The way they visualise the female leads also has changed. Earlier I guess the stories in Telugu cinema mostly required glamorously decked up girls. I wasn’t like that.”
Kausalya observes that being glamorous is also a difficult job, involving rigorous workouts and diets. She says she doesn’t fit into that zone. Now directors call her only if there is scope for performance.
She is game for a conversation on cinema but the moment the topic shifts to her character in World Famous Lover, she measures her words. The producer and director have instructed the cast not to give away any hints. Kausalya shares, “I play a simple village girl called Suvarna. The other girls in the film have roles with a lot of individuality, but the audience will know it’s a new role for me. People will love Suvarna, the middle class girl in Kothagudem. Her life revolves around her husband Seenaiyya (Vijay Deverakonda).” Ask her if Seenaiyya is a philanderer and Kausalya doesn’t say anything.
In Tuck Jagadeesh, she has a strong role. And Shiva Nirvana is known to develop the female character’s role quite well, cases in point being his earlier films Ninnu Kori and Majili. Aishwarya heaps praise on Nani and says Ritu Verma also has a strong role in the movie.
How are people in Chennai reacting to her signing more films in Hyderabad? “I have been reading comments on YouTube and Instagram; there are arguments among fans whether I am a Telugu or Tamil artiste. My mother wants me to do a lot of Telugu films. She says I should work with NTR and Ram Charan. We grew up watching Telugu films, I can speak, read and write Telugu. We celebrate festivals pertaining to both Telugu and Tamil culture.”