Aditi Rao Hydari: Why should I put myself in a box as an actor?

20/01/2022

Professionally, the last two years have been quite good for Aditi Rao Hydari.
The actress, who believes in being a pan-Indian artiste instead of restricting herself to one film industry, was seen in films in languages including Tamil, Malayalam, Telugu and Hindi.
“Why should I be put in a box? I don’t want to be in a box,” says Aditi, adding, “If the Hindi audience loves me as an actor and accepts me and at the same time the Tamil, Telugu and the Malayalam audience love and accept me too, then why would I say no to all that love? I belong to the Indian film industry at large, and I will continue to juggle between different industries.”
Aditi feels that as an actor, she tells stories and these stories have feelings, and as they say, emotions have no language.
The actress says that in the past two years, Indians went beyond their language and began consuming world content through OTT platforms.
“In the digital space, the audience has been consuming content regardless of what language it is made in.
They are watching it as stories. In my case, as I have said before, I always wanted to be a Mani Ratnam heroine. I used to think that it would be possible only if I could speak in Tamil.
Then once I had the experience of working with him (in Kaatru Veliyidai and Chekka Chivantha Vaanam), I realised that working with someone has nothing to do with the language.
It is all about understanding what your characters need to feel on screen. I am not surprised that with OTT, Indians are consuming a lot of Korean content, too. It is incredible.”
The Padmaavat actress feels that this is the best time for content creation. Aditi says, “Today, the audience has been exposed to different kinds of content. It’s a great time for writers and actors, as there is so much that is being created, and that too, fearlessly.”
In her endeavour to do films in multiple languages, Aditi often has to contend with a packed schedule.
But she has no complaints. “In the last few years, there have been situations where I have been hopping from one set to another and taking naps on flights,” she says, adding, “I must say that I do work well under pressure. I love to be in challenging situations.
It makes me bite my nails and have butterflies in my stomach. If I am not challenged, I feel like I am not working.
I can be quite hard on myself, but that is the way I am.”
The actress, too, would like to focus on one project at a time, but that often gets difficult. She shares, “I would like to focus on one project at a time, live the character to the fullest, finish the project and then move to the next one.
However, I don’t have the luxury to do that, especially in uncertain times like these where schedules and dates go haywire because of the sudden outbreak of COVID leading to lockdown and restrictions.”

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