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Law actor Ragini Prajwal: ‘I don’t see myself running around trees or doing a romantic role’
Ragini Prajwal opens up about choosing Law as her debut feature film and the pressure of carrying it on her shoulders.
Ragini Prajwal, who made her feature film debut in the recently-released Kannada film Law, said that she was drawn to the film because it was a strong character with no unnecessary romantic angle thrown in.
In an interview with Hindustan Times, Ragini opened up about her unconventional choice. “First, when I knew there was no hero is when I was a little hesitant and thinking, ‘How come?’ But when I heard the script is when I realised that this has to be the perfect choice because I don’t see myself running around trees or doing a romantic role, at least on screen,” she said.
“There was also the fact that the entire story revolves around this character and she is so strong in herself. She is also someone who you can relate to as well. That’s what got me to choose it,” she added.
When asked about the lack of well-rounded roles for women in Kannada cinema, Ragini said that there have been female-centric films in the past, but the key factor is a good script. “They have made films like this even earlier, but I don’t know how successful they have been. I think the Kannada industry is very open to these subjects. Content-driven films are becoming the next big thing in Kannada, whether they are led by women or men. I think they have always been accepting when it comes to roles like this but the fact is the script needs to be good,” she said.
Ragini revealed that she felt the pressure of carrying Law on her shoulders, especially because it was her debut and she was surrounded by veterans. “When it began, definitely, there was a little bit of pressure because I don’t know how many people realise this but it’s my debut and there were a lot of senior actors around me. I am very grateful that none of them made me feel that pressure. Maybe it was within me. Sometimes during the court scenes, I had to go back and tell myself, ‘It is going to be positive,’” she said.
“The pressure was not from outside, but I wanted to just set a certain standard for myself and I have tried to give my best. All of the senior actors - Avinash uncle, Mukhyamantri Chandru sir - really helped me to play the character even better,” she added.
Ragini described her character, Nandhini, as a ‘really strong-headed girl who knows what she’s doing and has her head on her shoulders’. She also said that she had no regrets about her debut film not being able to release in theatres. “See, when I think of it as maybe I could have been on the big screen, maybe that’s not on my bucket list now. I don’t think it’s any lesser than a big screen because being able to reach more than 200 countries on the day of the opening is as big,” she said.
“For now, keeping the current situation in mind, I think that OTT is the best platform but there will also come a time when people will want to watch movies in theatres,” she added.
Law, directed by Raghu Samarth, premiered on Amazon Prime Video on July 17.
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