‘Fell in love with Leela when I heard the script for the first time’
...says actress Regina Cassandra, who has won critical acclaim for playing a character with negative shades in the recently-released Chakra. She also opens up about whether her latest films in her filmography has changed her approach towards choosing scripts
Regina Cassandra meets us at a city hotel despite being busy shooting round the clock for her Tamil-Telugu bilingual
Soorapankai. The actress is basking in the reviews she has been garnering for her character of Leela the antagonist in Vishal’s
Chakra. “It took me 15 years to land such a role and I accepted it. I fell in love with the character ever since Anand narrated it to me. I was able to relate to her angst and pain, which is why I wanted to do it. Moreover, the DOP of the film Balasubramaniem too felt that I would fit it into the character well before I could sign it,” Regina starts off. The Evaru actress could be seen riding a Royal Enfield bike in the film and says that she is tomboyish off-screen as well. “I have driven an RX 100 (Yamaha) before and practised on it. It was a few years ago. I fell off and had scratches. Later, I rode a Thunderbird and other short-stroke bikes. The only thing is that over the years, there has been a common perception among people that when a female rides a heavy-duty motorbike on screen, it will look odd. I worked on it and ensured that it doesn’t look odd when I do it,” she reveals. There have been opinions from the critic and audience that Regina should have played Shraddha Srinath’s role of a cop in the film and vice versa. Tell her this and she retorts, “Are you saying that I am a bad villi (female antagonist). “I would certainly get to play a cop in future but these kinds of roles are hard to come across. The makers believed in me and that I can do justice to it. From dancing around trees to playing Vishal’s antagonist in a commercial film over the years is a huge jump,” she says.
The actress has Arun Vijay 31 aka AV 31 and Soorpanakai,a
Tamil Telugu bilingual in which she plays the lead. “Shooting post COVID is hectic. Initially, it was scary and now we are getting used to it as we have been following norms. However, it is not as stringent as it is in Bollywood. I have been shooting for a web series there. The SOPs they follow are strict,” Regina remarks. After playing an antagonist in Chakra and lead in Soorpanakai has Regina’s approach towards listening to scripts changed? “I don’t think so. I am still in my learning stages. Some films have worked for me and some haven’t while others have unexpectedly become a blockbuster. I don’t think I have started analysing things that way yet,” she replies. The actress will be next seen in the much-awaited Nenjam
Marapadhillai. “Like all of you, I am waiting for the film as well and I hope the audience would like that character,” she concludes.