It’s not just big stars, even those who’ve built a loyal fanbase through social media content also often find it difficult to break away from their established persona and try something uncharted. The hesitation isn’t always due to a lack of ability. It more often stems from the fear of whether their fans would accept them in a new light, shattering the image that helped build their popularity in the first place. But YouTuber-turned-actor Abhignya Vuthaluru believes she’s been fortunate to have an audience that already knows that she’s a jack of many trades and supports her wish to experiment as an artiste. Not just that she isn’t weighed down by the persona shaped by her fashion-centric YouTube channel, but it has only empowered her to pursue her aspirations in cinema without being enchained by expectations. That’s also one of the reasons, she admits, why she could confidently take on the central role in the upcoming ZEE5 Telugu original series Viraatapalem: PC Meena Reporting without second thoughts.
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In Viraatapalem: PC Meena Reporting, Abhignya plays Meena, a police constable posted in the fictional village of Viraatapalem during the 1980s. The series is touted as a thriller centred around the mysterious deaths of brides on their wedding days, as a result of which no marriage has taken place in the village in a decade. The trailer and other promotional material have also established that the show will be a thrilling ride, devoid of overtly feel-good elements. Speaking about the show, in an exclusive conversation with SCREEN, Abhignya says, “While I was watching the first cut, there were moments where I felt a sort of (creepy) energy. These aren’t jump scares, but scenes that make you feel eerie. The frames and music definitely keep you hooked. It’s both thrilling and chilling.”
So what drew her to a character like Meena, especially since the show features a subject many actors might shy away from due to its intensity and the need to step outside their comfort zone? Abhignya notes, “Though I am not so self-introspecting on my choices, I know where I want to be. I know with the little or upcoming better influence that I have, I want to be part of stories that reflect something beyond skin and external factors, such as fashion. Having said that, there’s nothing wrong with it. I myself come from a fashion background and have a fashion channel. But I think that is always something you can achieve. However, stories like Viraatapalem that have personalities and layers are rare finds. It is a choice that I made much earlier in my career. While I’m part of glam and femme stories too, I also want to prove to my audience that this is the range I can perform. I want to be a versatile actor that way.”
Was it an easy decision to take on such a role, especially since it deviates so far from her public persona? Did she ever worry about how her social media fam would react? “I am actually blessed with a crowd on my social media who know that I can do that and this. While I enjoy the vanity aspect of actors, I also want to have a voice. Sure, we like to look at someone pretty, but when they have something to tell, it’ll keep us hooked to them. I don’t have a mantra to it. I’m just going by my gut feeling, and I know that it’s all sort of adding up,” Abhignya maintains.
Watch SCREEN’s exclusive interview with Abhignya Vuthaluru here:
“It was so different from my other projects and in a good way,” she recalls her experience working on Viraatapalem. “This was the first time I got a proper Telugu script in a set. And that took me back to my childhood.” Although she can read and write in Telugu, Abhignya admits she had started losing touch with the lipi (script), since most of her recent projects had English or Tenglish (a blend of Telugu and English) scripts. “Also, when you speak English often, you tend to use a certain enunciation, and that’s something I had to unlearn this time. It was a beautiful experience. Everyone on set was shocked upon learning that I could actually read Telugu,” she adds.
During the chat, Abhignya also shared that part of the fun working on Viraatapalem was also because the show has a “beautiful balance of young and experienced actors.” She adds, “There were character artistes who had as much experience as our ages. And they were cracking jokes and trying to understand our lingo. It was a super fun set. Also, the pace at which director Poluru Krishna shot the show was impressive. He knew every frame very well. This was the quickest shoot I have been part of.”
Also starring Charan Lakkaraju, Lavanya Sahukara, Ramaraju, Gowtham Raju and Satish in key roles, Viraatapalem: PC Meena Reporting will start streaming on ZEE5 on June 27.
