Meenakshi Chaudhary is one of the most in-demand actresses of South Indian Cinema. Her latest film, Lucky Baskhar with Multi-lingual star actor Dulquer Salmaan is releasing on 31st October worldwide. The most eagerly awaited movie directed by Venky Atluri and produced by Suryadevara Naga Vamsi and Sai Soujanya of Sithara Entertainments and Fortune Four Cinemas, respectively is making waves post the theatrical trailer release all over India. Composer GV Prakash Kumar’s songs have already gone viral. The beautiful actress, who is playing Baskhar’s wife, Sumathi in the film, interacted with press in Hyderabad as part of promotions for the film.
Here are the excerpts from the lively interaction.
Meenakshi Chaudhary stated that she had a great experience with Sithara Entertainments and she is like a family member to the producers. She stated that after Guntur Kaaram, she has grown comfortable working with them. Talking about the Lucky Baskhar shooting experience, she said,” We had a young team who are highly motivated. For me and Dulquer Salmaan garu, we needed to be prepared and feel comfortable to express and understand what the story demands. As we are coming from other languages to Telugu, we don’t understand the language straight away. So, the team were very understanding and working with a great actor like Dulquer garu is a great learning experience.”
About playing a middle-class wife, Sumathi.
Meenakshi shared that she cannot keep playing her age all the time. She expressed her desire to play diverse roles in different films in her career. She stated that it is her goal to keep challenging herself and she wants to play all kinds of characters as she cannot play at 40’s every character. She remarked that she can play younger and older roles at this age than at an older age which is inspiring her to push herself.
As Sumathi, she shared that the character never values money. She walks away from her family to stay with Baskhar and she never desires more money than necessary or required. After money comes into their lives while she is happy initally, she has mixed feelings as she misses the Baskhar, she fell in love with. She shared that she observed greed in general around her in humans regarding money. Hence, she felt it is highly relatable. For the character, she shared that she observed her mother and relatives to pull off such a strong woman’s character. Meenaskhi also shared that she got time to prepare for her character, Sumathi and that helped her play the character as per expectations of the director.
We always knew Lucky Baskhar is something special
Meenakshi Chaudhary shared that eevry cast and crew member working on Lucky Baskhar knew the film was something special and great. She stated that she did not want to share too much before movie trailer release. She appreciated young actor Rithvik, who is playing her kid’s role and stated that he came prepared everyday and always got okayed on first take while they used to take multiple takes.
She also appreciated Bangalan and entire production designing team for re-creating 80’s Bombay with extensive research. She remarked that as actors they brought 50% to the scene but it is technical crew that made it 100% with and even made it something special. She specially mentioned Cinematography by Nimish Ravi and music composed by GV Prakash Kumar for their efforts in making the film look real and help them in emoting. She stated that technical crew and production house never compromised on look and feel of the film.
Even I hail from a middle-class household
Meenakshi talking about the importance of money shared that even she hails from a middle-class household. She shared that her father worked in Army and her mother is a homemaker who studied till 10th class only. She shared that they hail from a small village in Punjab and she is the first doctor from her village, first Miss India title and first everything from her family, village in the media field.
She continued to share that they used to buy one size bigger clothes so that they would fit for next year as well. She also shared that her parents used to hand over her books to her younger brother but they always encouraged her to get educated and opined that it is important to every person. She shared that Lucky Baskhar will connect with everyone has most of Indian families are middle-class and the film presents it with utmost sincerity and honesty.
About working with Mahesh and Dulquer Salmaan
She stated that she learnt from the discipline that Mahesh and Dulquer Salmaan showcased on sets of Guntur Kaaram and Lucky Baskhar, respectively. She stated that Mahesh is a thorough professional and she understand what needs to be done instantly. About Dulquer Salmaan, “Even though he is son of an actor and legend like Mammootty, he prepares for the role thoroughly, he picks a different body language, nuances in his get-up from the smallest of things and he inspired me to learn my lines in Telugu and be on my best all the time.” She opined that Dulquer’s humility as helped him become the renowned the actor that he is.
Lucky Baskhar is my redemption for my fans
Meenakshi acknowledged the fact that her fans were disappointed with her role in Guntur Kaaram. She shared that she cannot talk about what happened behind the scenes. But she understands that her fans have certain expectations from her and Lucky Baskhar is her redemption for them. She stated that they will love the film, for sure.
Talking about why one should watch Lucky Baskhar, Meenakshi said, “Lucky Baskhar is full of emotions and highly relatable. Every common man will see themselves on screen.” She further shared that as Sumathi, she felt close to her mother and father. She understood the compromises and sacrifices our mothers’ make. She shared that this very aspect is the strength of the film.
On her future projects
Meenakshi stated that money will come when you keep doing good projects and she would be thrilled to be part of many good films.
She concluded by hoping that people would find Lucky Baskhar entertaining and have a blast in the theatres this Diwali. Movie team is having more than 100 premieres on 30th October in Telugu states from 6PM onwards showcasing their confidence in the film.