Despite being swamped with a lot of characters, Anitha stood out in Prabhas’s latest release, The RajaSaab. It was a flawless character, which Riddhi carried with a lot of flamboyance.
“I liked the role even as I listened to the narration but I didn’t want to let go of a film with Prabhas. Secondly, the script was good in general and I could also resonate with Anitha very well because my off-screen persona is close to what Anitha is. She is expressive, emotional and someone who wears her heart on her sleeve. Such roles have always been embraced by the audience in the south and Anitha clicked with them well,” she begins.
Riddhi made her debut eight years ago in the Telugu film industry and she feels that the love has always been constant. “The audience in the south have been respectful and supportive when they see a good artiste or film. Just like their films, they are also homely and traditional.
They own the artistes they love and have a strong bonding with films they watch. Their connection has been emotional and the love I believe has elevated to another level after the release of The RajaSaab,” she says with a huge smile.
However, Riddhi attributes this success to the writers who have been open to experimenting with well-written characters across the country. “In one of my films, Superboys of Malegaon, written by Varun Grover, there is a resounding dialogue, ‘Writer hi baap hota hai’.
It is their imagination that has given us memorable stories and characters, which later comes to life through directors and actors. It is a good time to be an actor, especially with the surge of OTT. The audience also have been smart enough to accept well-written characters or stories,” Riddhi states.
The actor has been a part of women filmmakers’ narratives. Revathy cast her in Salaam Venky while Reema Kagti roped in Riddhi to play a strong character of Mallika in Superboys of Malegaon.
“Women directors hold different sensibilities and emotional depth when it comes to characterisation. However, from my perspective, there are quite a few upcoming female directors and there is so much space. We feel more connected when we work with female filmmakers and having said that when we speak of feminism, there is so much equality on sets and I have not found a huge difference in working with a male director. I see them as directors and not male or female. They all have been incredible,” she remarks.
Having been a part of Telugu, Malayalam and Hindi films, Riddhi though has a fan following in Tamil Nadu, hasn’t been a part of a Tamil movie yet. “I have signed a Tamil movie, which will be announced very soon. Until then I am going to remain tight-lipped about it,” she signs off with a smile.