When actor Ruhani Sharma was offered the title role in the Telugu cop drama HER by first-time writer and director Sreedhar Swaraghav, she was reluctant. ‘I don’t see myself pulling the crowds to the theatres. If the film does not do well, I will be punishing myself,’ she had told him. But he was confident and persistent. A software engineer and data scientist, Sreedhar was working in the USA and had no prior film experience. When he was on a visit to Hyderabad, she went to meet him, intending to politely turn down the film. “The more he discussed the story and got into the details of the script and his writing process, I was impressed by his clarity and vision. He had planned the shot divisions and editing patterns. I agreed to do the film,” Ruhani recalls when we meet in Film Nagar, Hyderabad, for an interview. HER: Chapter 1 releases in theatres on July 21.
Doubts put to rest
Her initial reluctance, Ruhani reminisces, also came from her apprehension if she would look convincing as a cop. “I could not see myself as a cop, that too in a female-centric film. I was asking myself if I had the personality to look like a tough cop. After Chi La Sow (her debut Telugu film), I wanted to step back from serious roles and do something more fun. Sreedhar told me that it was my performance in Chi La Sow that gave him the confidence that I could pull off an intense role.”
