Her first Hindi film Woh 3 Din won an award for Best Feature Film at the Falcon International Film Festival, London. And now, Payel Mukherjee’s first Telugu film has opened to positive feedback. “It has been a successful one,” says the Calcutta girl, already working on her second Telugu movie. A t2 chat...

When did you get the call for Srirangapuram?

I got a call for the movie in June last year and we started shooting in September.

Were you surprised?

Not exactly as I had done a Malayalam project Eva before Srirangapuram. South Indian films are doing exceptionally well and the film market is emerging day by day. This made me keen on working in the South Indian industry. I was in touch with some casting directors and agencies. When this character matched with me I was picked.

Did you give an audition for this film?

Yes I did the audition and the look test also. What they look for in the audition is acting skill and how well one understands their language and delivers it properly. How one is comfortable with prompting while shooting and how one can lip-sync with their language.

Tell us about your character?

My character Mahalakshmi is a very traditional rural Telugu girl who is from a very influential family who roams around her village like a princess. She can drive a tractor, she can shoot a gun. She has respect and love for her family as well as a responsibility to her love interest.

How was the shooting experience?

The experience of shooting in the South Indian film industry has been exceptionally good to me because each team member is very sincere and skilled at their work. So the working environment is really very smooth and professional. People don’t just watch movies there, they love movies and live with movies and are extremely sensitive to movies. People there highly respect actors so an actor also feels very comfortable and competent. And for me as it was my first Telugu movie the experience was very special. Acting in a completely unknown language was a different experience, which boosted my confidence level. But in the early days it was very difficult and it took a lot of time and hard work to learn the language.

How is the work culture there different from ours?

To tell you the truth the selection process of the artiste is totally different. They have a professional casting agency and artistes are selected on the basis of their talent through a proper selection process. Moreover the South industry is professional in every aspect. Every casting is done through casting calls and casting agencies, auditions and look tests and finally every artiste undergoes rigorous workshops to get command on their language along with dancing and fitness classes that are also provided.

Have you made friends there?

While working together, one definitely becomes friends with one’s co-stars and colleagues, so I also have several friends and well-wishers in the South Indian industry who keep informing me about various projects and movies. And that is why I have worked on two projects after Srirangapuram, one Telugu movie (Nawab) and one Telugu web series. And since now I have learned to understand Telugu and can speak a little I have no difficulty in communicating with my South Indian friends.

How is the feedback?

The movie has been a successful one both critically and commercially and the feedback from people is quite good and I am very happy and satisfied. And what I learnt from working in the South Indian industry is to deal with the kind of subjects that the common man can connect with. The way my movie told the story of everyday life of the common people in the village, there was a variety of entertainment factors.

Tell us about your next Telugu movie Nawab?

Nawab is a multi-star cast movie where the story revolves around a dump yard and their dwellers and workers but the story twists when a lot of black money is disappearing from the city. How cops are fighting to get the clue of the money and and how some people are moving that money and whether the dump yard people are connected to the money laundering is the storyline. I play the leading lady cop.

Will you be shifting to Hyderabad?

I want to work in the South industry making Hyderabad as my base. But tell me who doesn’t want to work in her own city and language? Bengali is my mother tongue and the City of Joy is my heart so I plan to balance my shooting schedules. Fingers crossed... hope I get good work in both industries and can showcase my acting skills to the audience, be it Telugu or Bengali.