This gorgeous Punjab ki kudi made an impressive debut in Telugu in 2002 and then in Kannada in Kiccha Sudeep starrer Chandu which is a popular film with Kiccha’s fans. Despite several offers in Kannada, the actress was waiting for the right one to make a comeback.
And now, after almost 15 years, Sonia Agarwal has finally chosen to return for a ‘crazy’ film. She will be seen opposite Crazy Star Ravichandran in Dasharatha, a film being produced and directed by M S Ramesh. Incidentally, it was Ramesh who was one of the dialogue writers for Chandu in which the actress made her Kannada debut. In an exclusive interview, the actress speaks to Bengaluru Chronicle about her journey from Chandu to Dasharatha.
“After Chandu, I got several offers but I wasn’t convinced with most of them or they didn’t materialise. This is why I couldn’t do Kannada films and now, I’ll finally be seen in M S Ramesh’s venture, Dasharatha. He had incidentally penned the dialogues for my only Kannada film in the past, Chandu,” says Sonia.
The actress adds that the script was apt for her to make a comeback at this juncture in her acting career. “It’s quite apt and is written very naturally about a husband and wife’s relationship in today’s context. Whether it’s falling in love, bringing up children or reaching towards one’s goals, everything is a challenging task. It talks about family issues, and how the man and woman are interconnected in the institution of marriage. Even how they handle or mishandle various situations are dealt with realistically in the film,” she says. “Moreover, ego plays a twist in the character. It sounded perfect for me to play a sensible wife in the movie which has a lot of potential for the audiences to look forward to,” she adds.
Further, the actress says that she is doing another first-time character in her pretty long drawn career – a horror film in Tamil. “I am doing Agalya, which is again a first time for me to work in horror. It has been a great last two years performing in various genres apart from making guest appearances in some films. Continuing with my experiments, I also play the character of a blind girl character in one of my upcoming ventures. It was indeed very challenging to play a differently abled character,” says Sonia.
Making a comeback in Kannada after almost 15 years, the actress feels that a lot has changed in the Kannada industry. “I see a lot of realistic subjects being made and even the approach towards making films has changed a lot. Even commercial ventures are more natural in their approach. I do not say that melodrama is completely absent but the percentage has drastically come down. Other than some big films, I have tried being natural on the screen when it
comes to costumes and makeup,” she adds.
Although her mother-tongue is Punjabi, the actress reveals that she prefers to perfect her acts on the spot, rather than taking up time on rehearsals. “When I started I would rehearse and go prepared to the shoot but eventually I understood that performing and learning the art on the spot makes a lot of difference as I would anyway make use of the prompt. Doing it on the spot helped me with my expressions and emotions.”
