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Pallavi Raju: Horror'struck and loving it!

Pallavi Raju returns to the local film industry with a new genre. We trace her journey so far and discover more in this interview.

Three years ago, she made her silver screen debut with the Kannada movie Ka and now she is set to return with back-to-back horror movies. A former investment banker, Pallavi Raju who has been portraying multiple roles in short films, theatre and tele-ventures, talks about her journey from being a free-style dancer to realising her passion to act, and more. Her yet-to-be-titled new movie, is directed by Madhur Chandra who had earlier directed Vascodigama.

“I always wanted to become an actress and hence dance and acting became a part of my growing years. Along with extracurricular activities, I pursued my education and went to work as an investment banker. I enjoyed being a banker but my first love has always been the performing arts. Hence, I joined a reputed theatre group — Ratan Thakur’s Misfit where I gained the much-needed technicalities as an artiste. This is where one of my seniors recommended my name for a role in Ka,” says Pallavi Raju.

Though her debut film released three years ago, she soon followed it with her next venture, Mantram. Explaining the delay, she adds, “Soon after Ka, I took up Mantram which I had finished shooting for in 2015, but one of the artistes who plays the crucial role met with an accident. The team had no other option but to wait for his recovery. Now, it’s finally releasing. It is a horror movie and deals with a different emotional content.”

Pallavi also awaits the release of a complete horror film titled Saligrama. She has also signed on another film which is yet to be titled, where she plays a real life cop, unlike the usual ones seen on the silver screen with dabangg characteristics. While most of her team members from Mantram admit to experiencing paranormal activities while shooting for the film, Pallavi herself shares an experience that was quite peaceful even though the crew were on tenterhooks, “During the shooting for one of the sequences at Daulat Mahal in Raichur, a 300-year-old palace, I had to stay all alone on the third floor of the building and the shoot went on late, it was 2.30 am. The crew were filming from the ground floor. So, everyone was a bit worried about me being alone. But I was actually ok, and having a gala time walking around the building,” she says.

She believes the core areas of filmmaking are subject and storyline. She also feels than as an actress there is nothing like “a glamourous role”, “I have been choosing roles which have something new to offer than just sticking to the same old bubbly characters. Since theatre, I have taken up projects that are very different. I have so far acted in a handful of short films which are made more like feature films, and have had a brief role in a TV venture based on real crime incidents.” She wraps up sharing that she recently took belly dancing with advanced stages of various forms of dance to learn something new. “These days everyone dances and acts, but it is also important to learn it thoroughly,” says the actress.

( Source : Deccan Chronicle. )
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