The new mega entrant

O Manasa Cheruvaga Raa Ila’ – the haunting melody has stayed with us from the time it first hit our ears, and the teaser trailer of ‘Oka Manasu’ did the same; each frame of the trailer pierces through the heart to touch the romantic nerve that we thought was dead in the melee of action, comedy and thriller cinema we are surrounded with.

In addition to being a refreshing film with some amazing music and endearing story that ‘Oka Manasu’ promises to be, it is also the debut film for Niharika Konidela, the first girl from the Mega family or any Telugu film family for that matter, to have entered the supposedly big bad world of Telugu cinema as a heroine. No wonder the release of her film is anticipated with bated breath by the fans and the audience in general; for she may be paving way for a new and healthy trend in Tollywood.

“I am staying away from real world and social media. So the euphoria has not hit me much, but I realise the importance when people come up to me and talk about it, and I am glad, and if I am an influence then I want to be a good influence,” exults Niharika, youngest daughter of producer-actor Nagababu.

She is not a new face in the Telugu entertainment world. “When I decided that I want to act, I first wanted to become familiar with the audience, so I did the TV. It was then that people started getting scripts to me. But I was waiting for a script that gives me scope to act, where my character will have some importance. I did not want to do glamorous roles, which is when I heard ‘Oka Manasu’. I immediately connected with it, and didn’t have to think twice before deciding to jump on board,” she recalls.

Niharika’s heart was initially set on production, and she never gave acting a thought. So immediately after Class XII, she joined a Mass Communication course in the hope of taking care of her father’s Anjana Productions some day. “Even dad thought I would be taking over production, so one day when I told him I want to act, he was like – ‘What’? There was no resistance – after all - my entire family is into films. But my father told me the pros and cons. He explained to me that it is going to be more difficult and different than what it was for my brothers and cousins.”

Knowing what she wanted helped her in making her decision an easy one. She knew she was never going to be doing glamorous roles. She shares, “In fact I met a bunch of Mega fans and they were quite happy, and told me that they want to see me become an actor like Savitri. I thought that it was very cute. Fans consider me as their sister, as part of their family. So, when I agreed to do the film I had my father and fans, who supported our family through the years, at the back of mind. It is the responsibility I will always shoulder gladly.”

Niharika looks beautiful, cute and very native in ‘Oka Manasu’, without looking too old fashioned. Evidently she has had a hand in conceptualising the look as her mother took over the responsibility of being her costume designer. Describing the whole experience of shooting for the film she relates, “It was beautiful. We shot in Araku and Visakhapatnam for 33 days. Before the film, these were just two places I liked going to, but now they are so much more to me.

For most part of the film it is only me and Shourya. The film has only few other characters, but important ones. The movie is very intense and when I looked at the rushes, each frame had an aura, and the entire credit goes to Ram Reddy, who handled the camera.”

Even though she had worked on television and her web series became quite popular, she underwent one-month acting workshop with Aruna Dikshit to face the real battle. “My character Sandhya is an epitome of womanhood, and for the first two days of the shoot, I put in a lot of effort to be like her and sink my teeth into the character.

But from the third day onwards, I felt like I became one with the character so much so that I do not know whether I acted or lived the role. I am yet to get out of the feeling,” she enthuses with a smile. “I fell in love with the movie. You will get a film like ‘Oka Manasu’ only once in 100 blue moons.

It is not just a love story – it is the story of a special relation that Sandhya and Surya (Shourya) have – it is something that every person experiences at least once in his lifetime. It is the story of love that we stopped believing in today’s pub culture days. According to me there is no such thing as false love. There is only love, which is true. After watching the film every boy would like to be loved the way Sandhya loves Surya, and every girl would like to be loved like how Surya loves Sandhya,” she relates.

She chips in as an after-thought, “My father, like a stubborn child, refused to watch the rushes. He was like, ‘I do not want to watch the film in bits and pieces’. My family is yet to watch the film. And, if I am tensed about something, it is about their reaction.”

Even though Niharika points out that she cannot be 100 per cent like Sandhya, who is extremely confident of herself and in her love for Surya; one does see the streak of confidence in the way she handled her career decisions so far. She calls her uncle Chiranjeevi, her role model and tries to emulate him.

And she knows she will wait for the right films to come her way, the films that are challenging and give her a chance to explore her talent. Even as she is looking forward for the release of ‘Oka Manasu’ (June 24); her ultimate goal is to get into production.

By:Rajeshwari Kalyanam