Isha Koppikar recalls Nagarjuna slapping her 14 times for a scene in Chandralekha: ‘At the end I had marks on my face’

Bollywood actor Isha Koppikar recalled a BTS moment from the set of Chandralekha when she asked Nagarjuna to slap her for real to feel the anger.

Bollywood actor Isha Koppikar began her acting career with Telugu films before moving to Bollywood, where she starred in movies like Don, LOC Kargil, and Salaam-e-Ishq: A Tribute to Love, among others. In a recent interview with Hindi Rush, Isha opened up about a behind-the-scenes moment from her second film Chandralekha, revealing she was slapped by Nagarjuna 14 times for a scene.

Isha Koppikar recalls working with Nagarjuna during Chandralekha.

When Nagarjuna slapped Isha Koppikar 14 times for a scene

Isha recalled that during the shoot of Chandralekha, she asked Nagarjuna to slap her for real in order to truly feel the emotion of anger. She said, "I got slapped by Nagarjuna. I was a fully committed actor that I want to perform in a real, method way. So when he was slapping me, I couldn’t feel it. This was my second film, so I told him, ‘Nag, you really slap me.’ He said, ‘Are you sure? No, I can’t.’ I said, ‘I want that feeling. I am not feeling it right now.’ So he slapped me, but softly.”

The actor went on to share how the director still couldn’t capture the anger in her expression, which led to multiple retakes: “In an attempt to look angry, I got slapped 14 times. At the end, I literally had slap marks on my face. Bechara mujhe leke baitha, bola sorry (Poor guy, he apologised to me). I said, ‘I asked for it, why are you saying sorry?’”

About Chandralekha

The film marked Isha’s debut as a lead actor in Telugu cinema. Directed by Krishna Vamsi, the comedy-drama also featured Nagarjuna, Ramya Krishnan, Murali Mohan, Chandra Mohan, Giri Babu, and Tanikella Bharani in key roles. It was a remake of the Malayalam film of the same name, originally directed by Priyadarshan.

Isha Koppikar’s recent work

Isha was last seen in the 2024 sci-fi film Ayalaan, alongside Sivakarthikeyan and Rakul Preet Singh. The film also starred Sharad Kelkar, Karunakaran, Yogi Babu, David Broughton-Davies, Bhanupriya, and Bala Saravanan. It received positive reviews from both critics and audiences, grossing ₹76.5 crore worldwide. Isha is yet to announce her next project.