Shruti Haasan recalls how Lokesh Kanagaraj surprised her with a role in Rajinikanth led Coolie
Shruti Haasan
has been part of the Indian film industry for over a decade, known for her eclectic mix of roles across Tamil, Telugu, and Hindi cinema. But her upcoming project Coolie, directed by
Lokesh Kanagaraj
and starring none other than Superstar
Rajinikanth
, is shaping up to be one of the most special ones yet.
In a candid conversation with Prema, Shruti opened up about how she landed the role, her admiration for director
Lokesh
, and why her character in Coolie is unlike anything she's done before.Interestingly, Shruti didn't meet Lokesh Kanagaraj for a film offer at all. She had called him for a meeting to discuss a music video they were supposed to work on together. The meeting took place at the legendary RKFI office, but before she could even begin discussing the video, Lokesh had other plans.
'I was going to give him the narration about the music video.
And before we could talk about that, he said, 'I want you to do this film, Coolie, and here's the one line.' I was like, what is going on?' Shruti recalled, laughing.
'Usually, as an actress, we get a call from our manager saying, 'This director wants to meet you.' And here I am calling him for a video, and he's giving me a film!'
What followed, she says, was a whirlwind of emotions.
Lokesh told her he needed time to figure things out and would get back to her. Shruti, instead of chasing the opportunity, chose to wait. 'I didn't want to be like, 'Hello, we spoke about the film,'' she said with a smile. 'So I just waited. And after two months, he called me and said, 'Okay, I'd like to give you the full narration.''When that narration finally happened, Shruti was hooked.
'His cinema is testosterone-charged—boys, guns, action. But my character is not a token woman. She's the feminine soul of the story. What I loved is that many people will relate to her. As a woman, I related to her deeply,' she said.
Shruti also revealed that she is wearing no make up in the film.She also mentioned she didn't know Superstar Rajinikanth beyond hello -hello ! during her growing up years.
Coolie is clashing with
Hrithik Roshan
,
Jr NTR
and
Kiara Advani
's War 2 on 14th August
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