Trivikram is a major influence on me: Samantha

The influence that Trivikram has on me now is similar to what it was with Gautham Menon

Samantha will round off the summer, after ‘Theri’, ‘24’ and ‘Brahmotsavam’, with ‘A… Aa.’ She describes the Trivikram directorial as her most important film till date as it marks her first tryst with comedy.

“Trivikram garu has a great sense of humour and my call was just to imitate him. It’s subtle humour and has been dealt in a way that people who watch it will have a smile on their face throughout,” she assures.

Understandably, she found comedy tough. “It is the same reason why we pay our comedians big bucks and why our films can’t do without them,” she asserts, “It was a risk that Trivikram and I took. If you don’t make people laugh, they’ll get irrigated. It’s a risk…let’s see.”

Samantha admits that heroines rarely get performance-oriented roles and ‘A… Aa’ was an offer that required her to buckle up. “The film has equal importance for both hero and heroine. It’s not just a love story; it deals about relationships between mother and her daughter, between father and his daughter. It is about different personalities and their internal conflicts and is narrated from a girl’s point of view.”

Continuing with the explanation, she adds, “It is a makeover for Trivikram, me and Nithiin. Trivikram, especially, hasn’t done this kind of a film since long.” Shedding light about her part Anasuya Ramalingam, she shares, “She is very similar to me in real life— when it comes to taking decisions very quickly. She is a young naïve girl from a conservative family.”

The film is her third collaboration with Trivikram on the trot after ‘Attarintiki Daaredhi’ and ‘S/o Satyamurthy’. Is she happy being called his muse? Sounding rather upset at the question, she explains, “I’m being called Trivikram’s muse, Vikram Kumar’s muse. If I work with a hero multiple times I’m called his muse. I’m everybody’s muse.

“If I’m comfortable with the people with who I work for the first time, I will not hesitate to join forces with them again. And it works for both the parties. For ‘A… Aa’ it was important that I had a great relation with the actor and the director because it required me to be myself.”

Knowing Trivikram, naturally, helped her to improve her skills. “If I give a particular expression, he would be like, ‘I’ve seen this in your earlier films, let’s try a different one.’ He pushed me to try new expressions as far as ‘A… Aa’ is concerned.

You will see a new me in the film and I’ve grown as an actor thanks to him,” she exults, adding that from Gautham Menon, her mentor, she held on to a certain style of acting. “The influence that Trivikram has on me now is similar to what it was with Gautham.”

She is also effusive in her praise for the wizard of words. “He had a strong influence on me, not just professionally but personally too. Let alone me, he had influence on most actors from the film. After the shots, we didn’t retire to the caravans, instead hung out with him discussing various topics.

He has certain innate goodness about him and is very knowledgeable. He kind of helped me to overcome certain insecurities in life and I’m sure Nithiin too feels the same. If I have any problem I can ring him without any second thoughts,” she informs excitedly.

‘A… Aa’ is her first film with Nithiin and though she is good friends with him, romancing him turned out to be easier said than done. “Since we were good friends, the romantic portions turned out to be difficult initially and Trivikram was like, ‘Did I commit a mistake by casting you both?’ There was zero chemistry for the first two days. It got better as shoot progressed,” she says with a loud laughter.

In the news recently for being linked to Naga Chaitanya, Samantha chose to remain mum on her relationship status, seeking the help of her PR machinery to the rescue. But does she intend to continue doing films after marriage? “Yes, I will,” she concludes.