Hansika Motwani forayed into acting as a child artiste in Hindi TV shows, and films. After her debut as an actress in Himesh Reshammiya’s Aap Kaa Suroor 10 years ago, Hansika has gone places, becoming one of Tamil and Telugu cinema’s popular faces. She will soon be seen in a Malayalam film too – Mohanlal’s Villian.
Speaking about the experience of working in a new language, Hansika admitted that she was initially apprehensive, but soon learnt the ropes. “On my first day of shoot, I had a monologue which was one-and-a-half pages long, but I was done with that in 15 minutes. It was a good team to work with and I learnt a lot,” she told Times of India,
Hansika is said to be playing a role with shades of grey, something she’s never attempted before. But she clarifies that while this character is different, it isn’t a negative role. The actress said that she’s normally full of energy and chirpy, but “this character is a 180-degree flip. It’s a role that every actor would want to play at least once in their career”.
The actress’ next in Tamil is a black comedy with Prabhu Deva, titled Gulebakavali. The duo had earlier worked together in Prabhu Deva’s directorial Engeyum Kadhal (2011) and this year’s Bogan. The leads are said to play con artists, and there’s dancing involved too. “While he was a director, we had zero equation. Now, when I am working with him, he calls me ‘6G’ and tells me how I have upgraded myself. Every time he comes to the set, I am either imitating someone or doing something fun. He says it’s entirely different working with me now,” she says.
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A contrast to this is her Telugu film Gautham Nanda. “I play a lower middle class girl who is content with her life. The film has a good script and the female characters are fleshed out well. To suit the character, I changed my look and body language; I couldn’t even grow my nails,” she says.
It is also being speculated that Hansika might be a part of Sangamithra, Sundar C’s magnum opus, after Shruti Haasan exited the project. “No comments. However, I will be announcing my next project in a fortnight,” she said.
With so many projects in hand and an imminent vacation abroad, Hansika says she is glad to have age on her side.
“I am just 25 now, and think I still have a long run left. In the past, actresses used to start when they are 14-15 years old and would go on… I also started off very early. So, I have age on my side for at least the next five years and am going to make that count.”