'Roja' actress Madhoo recalls how 'South cinema' was mocked earlier in Bollywood, reveals how 'WAR 2' actor Jr NTR changed his look for 'Nannaku Prematho' because she teased him
is wooring the audience at the moment with his recent release 'WAR 2' which sees him along with Hrithik Roshan. The film has clashed with Rajinikanth's 'Coolie'. While 'WAR 2' sees Jr NTR in a very new avatar, he also left audiences surprised with his 2016 hit 'Nannaku Prematho' which saw the Telugu star in a completely new look, playing the charming Abhiram.
The film was also a hit at the box office. But few know that his signature 'mohawk' hairstyle in the film was actually changed because co-star Madhoo teased him about it.
In a chat with Galatta India, Madhoo known for movies like 'Roja' recalled her very first meeting with NTR during the shoot in Spain. 'I did a film called Nannaku Prematho with him. In that film, he had mohawk hairstyle. When we went to shoot for the first time in Spain, as soon as I saw him, I said, 'Okay, so this is the look of the hero!' So, he changed himself completely.
He is very wonderful,' she shared.
The conversation then shifted to how South cinema was once mocked by Bollywood and Hindi-speaking audiences — often reduced to memes and jokes. 'Pehle jo mazaak udaaya jaata tha, uss cheez se mujhe bahut dukh hota tha. Even I had to face this during my childhood. 'Ae Madrasan aa gayi', it had a negative tonality. What do you mean by that?' Madhoo revealed.
She added, 'We are Indians. Why do we make fun of each other? But, all this was accepted at that time, hence we didn't react much.
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But, we all succumbed to it. I didn't know how to fight it at that time. So, we used to think how to improve our Hindi fluency, so that people shouldn't get to know from my accent that I am a South Indian.'
Now, Madhoo says the tables have turned, and she embraces her roots without hesitation. 'I don't feel ashamed now. If I say something wrong in Hindi or there's a thickness of South Indian in my accent, I take pride in that. Yes, I am a South Indian and I am speaking Hindi.
If you have a problem with my Hindi, then no problem, I can learn it. But when I was young, I was scared of the South Indian tag. There was a fear. I even tried to learn Urdu,' she admitted.
The 'Phool Aur Kaante' star also shared that she had originally dreamed of starting her career in Bollywood. 'Even when I was wanting to become an actor, I wanted to star in Hindi films. Destiny made me go towards South cinema, but my design wasn't to be there. But today, I am very proud. I consider myself an Indian film actor now,' she said.
Madhoo currently has multiple projects lined up - Hansal Mehta's next Netflix original, a theatrical film with
Manoj Bajpayee
, and a Telugu Amazon Original series.
"Get the latest news updates on Times of India, including reviews of the movie
Coolie
and
War 2
."
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