Aditi Rao Hydari: After I did Mani Ratnam sir’s films back-to-back, offers started pouring in from south

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With a slew of films lined up for release in the south — three Tamil, two Telugu and one Malayalam — actor Aditi Rao Hydari feels she has found a strong footing in the southern film industry. And she can’t thank filmmakers there enough for extending support and showing faith in her.

“After I did two of Mani (Ratnam) sir’s films back-to-back, the entire Tamil and Telugu region sort of opened up for me. I feel humbled to be approached by a number of good directors. In fact, when Padmaavat released last year, I was not in Mumbai. I was shooting one film after another, and was there for just a month,” says the 33-year-old, who was seen in the Mani Ratnam-directed Kaatru Veliyidai (2017) and Chekka Chivantha Vaanam (2018).

Excited with the films she has in her kitty right now, Aditi goes on to say though she can’t reveal much about the ones that haven’t been announced, there is Psycho, V and Dhanush’s next that she is currently busy with.

Calling her experience “an amazing one”, she explains why she could not let go any of the offers she got in southern cinema. “I didn’t want to let go of the opportunities because of the directors, actors and most importantly the challenges these films were offering. I was not thinking about the language. I was just working, thinking ‘Oh my god, I’m going to work with this director, I’m getting to do such interesting characters — sometimes headline a film, sometimes play an author-backed role. So, I decided to do all of them. It was literally a boom that happened,” says Aditi, adding she was super impressed with the pace of films shot in the south, “which gives actors a lot of time to do a greater number of films”.

With a packed schedule in the south, will she cut down on Hindi films, we ask? That isn’t the intention, she clarifies, adding that she wants, in fact, to strike a balance.

“Hindi is the language I speak, so obviously I’d love to do Hindi films. I’ve already signed one project but again, I can’t talk before the announcement is made. Yes, I’m more consciously trying to balance my career in the south and the Hindi film industry and hopefully, I’ll be able to do so,” she shares.