Chennai: There are films that are of the run-of-the-mill kind. And then, there are those other films that not just audiences, but even artistes working in them remember for a lifetime.
Sameera Reddy claims that Vedi will be one such movie for her. "I will remember Vedi for a lot of things. The kindness of the crew members, the care that Vishal took and the experience of working with Prabhu Deva sir. But apart from all these, I will also remember Vedi for another reason and that is one of the schedules. The Ladakh schedule has probably been the most difficult of my life and that will make me remember this movie for a very long time to come."
Explaining why she considers the Ladakh Schedule to be the most difficult, she says, "We had to shoot a song sequence for Vedi in Ladakh. It was such a tiring experience. There were people who were collapsing for lack of oxygen. The environment was a big challenge to my system. One morning, I was breathless. I could not breathe and it was Vishal who came to my aid. He got me a doctor and postponed the shoot by over a couple of hours. Vishal was so understanding and the crew was friendly. All those hardships that I faced at Ladakh melted away when I got to watch the song shot over there. It has come out so well."
The film, which has been directed by Prabhu Deva, is a remake of the Telugu hit Shouryam.
Even as you begin to ask Sameera to compare the two versions of the movie, she cuts you short by disclosing that she hasn’t watched the Telugu version yet.
"No, I haven’t watched the Telugu version yet," she says and chuckles, before adding, "Prabhu Deva sir wanted me to watch the Telugu version. Everyday, an assitant director would leave a copy of that film's CD in my room in the hope that I would watch it. However, I would kind of tell them that I would watch it but then not do so. I would pretend as if I had watched the film before Prabhu Deva sir. However, I think he got to know at one point that I hadn't watched the film."
But why didn’t she want to watch the Telugu version? Says the actress, "I didn't want to have any preconceived notions. I wanted to give that character an element of freshness. That is why I didn’t watch that film."
Ask her what appealed to her about this project that she chose to be a part of it and she replies almost instantaneously, "Two people. Prabhu Deva sir and working with Vishal. When I was shooting for a Hindi film, I got a call from Prabhu Deva sir. He said, 'I want to make a film with Vishal and you in the lead. I know this is short notice, but I need to confirm your dates immediately..' I didn't wait for anything else and simply said 'yes'. I had complete faith in Prabhu Deva sir and I had wanted to work with him so much. In fact, I did not even know if I was the sole heroine in the film. Prabhu sir had called me in the first week of November and we started shooting in the second week of December last year."
Finally, ask her about the experience of working in the movie and she signs off saying, "It was a very memorable experience. I thoroughly enjoyed working with Vishal and Prabhu Deva sir. I'm also super happy with having worked with Vivekh."
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