The actress-producer is playing activist Hemalatha Lavanam in the Ravi Teja-starrer which will hit the screens on 20 October.
Renu Desai as Hemalatha Lavanam in 'Tiger Nageswara Rao'. (X)
Though Renu Desai vanished from the Telugu silver screen 20 years ago, after Johnny (2003), she claims to be active in the Telugu industry in one or the other departments in 24 crafts.
As the first stylist in Telugu cinema, she worked for Gudumba Shankar (2004), Balu (2005), and Annavaram (2006). Later, she turned a producer for the Marathi film Ishq Wala Love (2014).
And out of the blue, Ranu surprised Telugu small-screen lovers by playing a guest role in Radhamma Kuthuru. “I am familiar with Telugu but not as expert as you,” she retorts when asked if she got disconnected entirely from Tollywood.
“One should learn the language of the people where you reside. Harvesting the benefits of the land that sheltered you, it’s incorrect not to speak the local language. I realised this when I was doing Badri in 2000,” she adds.
Ahead of the release of Tiger Nageswara Rao, the actor addressed the media in Hyderabad on Friday, 13 October.
Tiger Nageswara Rao is directed by Vamsee and produced by Abhishek Agarwal Arts. The film is a real-life story of bandit Nageswara Rao, who was involved in robberies, jewellery thefts, and bank heists during the 70s and 80s.
The Ravi Teja-starrer is inspired by Nageswara Rao’s real life but is packed with fictional touch-ups to give the glossy look of a proper commercial potboiler. It will hit the marquee on 20 October.
Renu Desai as Hemalatha Lavanam. (Supplied)
The actor is playing the role of Hemalatha Lavanam in the upcoming Telugu film Tiger Nageswara Rao.
“I didn’t even know that such a personality existed until director Vamsee told me. She is a lesser-known personality, an oldtimer of that era (1970s) who fought against the Jogini system.”
Renu Desai explained that Hemalatha Lavanam toured the Chambal, Bundelkhand, and Stuartpuram regions to take up the task of reforming the socially rebellious people.
“Yes, Tiger Nageswara Rao was a big personality in real life. Concepts like feminism might be new things to the present generation.”
“But Hemalatha fought for the rights of women back then. Though she was happily married, she wore the dress of a widower and she did it as part of her mission. I feel extremely fortunate to have played such a great woman on the screen,” Renu Desai said about the character she is portraying.
The actor felt that Hemalatha Lavanam serves as an inspiration for today’s young generation. “Her grit and resolve in leading from the front was phenomenal. I am sure she would be an inspiring woman for today’s generation.”
The Johnny actress studied the body language of Hemalatha to get under the skin of the character.
“She had a gentle and composed appearance. For the first, I have a regret in my life. I wish I could have met her. She was a larger-than-life character.”
Actor Renu Desai. (Supplied)
Renu Desai even met the relatives of Tiger Nageswara Rao and Hemalatha Lavanam in Vijayawada.
“I gathered all the details about the personality of Hemalatha Lavanam, her ideals and her thought process while taking up the movement during those times (the 70s). So, I got a proper idea of how she was in real life.”
She elucidated, “I had to change my body language. Then I worked on my dialogue and diction. I had a lengthy line for the first scene. I tried my best to be truthful to her character, the way she wore the saree, the hairstyling, the mannerisms, etc.”
The actress found slight relatability with the onscreen character of Hemalatha Lavanam.
“I could relate to her in slight proportions but she was a big activist. I am not so meek as all Telugu media know me well. I gave speeches in front of crowds. Recently, I happened to address a gathering held by the BJP party,” Renu Desai was all smiles.
“After doing the character of Hemalatha, I realised that what I am doing right now is not enough, I have to do much more socially. Now, we have everything at our disposal — social media to send out an opinion, or a tweet would do,” she noted.
“Back then, in the 1960s and 70s, they had to go out and work on it, assemble people. It was a strenuous job. I feel I have to put in some more effort. Once my daughter completes Class X, I will start an NGO and work for the welfare of underprivileged children. I will start in a small way,” she announced.
Actor Renu Desai. (Renudesai/ Facebook)
Renu Desai boasts herself to be the first stylist of Telugu cinema. “I was the first stylist in the industry back in the 2000s. The term gradually turned into vogue after I started first with Kushi (2001).”
“Since I have a sense of using colours, I got trained in the same. People mistook me for a costume designer. It was during the days of Badri and Kushi, I and Kalyan garu went on a European tour where I discovered my talent for styling,” she recalled.
The actress-producer, 42, says she is happy to do an age-appropriate role in Tiger Nageswara Rao. “The compliments that matter to me are the ones that come from my children. My daughter Aadhya said she liked my appearance in the trailer of this film. Even my daughter is proud that I am doing an age-appropriate character. I am not young to accept the glam girl sort of characters.”
Her son Akira Nandan is currently not interested in acting. “That is the status at present. I don’t know about the future. Akira did a film production course, not acting, in the USA. But if he wants to become an onscreen hero in the future, I will support him. He is interested in yoga and martial arts too.”
Renu Desai says she wishes to see Akira on the big screen, especially because she has been an actor in the past and his father is an actor too. “Neither I nor his father would like to force him into a specific field,” she signed off.
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