‘Raymo’ is the ninth film of Ashika Ranganath, and it marks her first collaboration with actor Ishan and director Pavan Wadeyar. “This is a film, which has been in the making for a long, thanks to Covid. However, the film has been the talk of the town since the time of its launch,” says Ashika, ahead of the film’s release on November 25.
As someone, who doesn’t come from a film background, she always looked forward to working with the best technicians and Pavan Wadeyar was one of the directors on her list. “I enjoyed Pavan Wadayer’s Googly, and since then I have been waiting to work under his direction. I got more excited when I got the narration. It is my first attempt at an out-and-out romantic drama, which is also musical. Usually, love stories give the heroines an equal role, and have something important to play, and Raymo will be one such film.”
Ashika explains how she bagged the role, “According to Pavan, I have an innocent face, and that’s one of the reasons why he picked me for the role. Half your job is done when the director thinks that you match the image he has for the character. Another 50 per cent goes lies in the performance. I didn’t find it difficult to pull off Mohana’s role. The character is more like me, with little variations. I enjoyed playing this role. However there are certain scenes that got me out of my comfort zone, and I believe my audience will see a new me in this film,” she says.
Did Ashika completely follow the director’s vision or took reference from her surrounding to play Mohana, the singer? “I have two variations in my character. As a singer, my one point reference was Shreya Ghoshal who gave me tips to understand a personality of a singer and the mannerisms. Apart from being a singer, she deals with her father, society, and the challenges that come along with it,” she says.
To be part of a character, which you are not is always exciting, she says, and in particular, being a singer. “Everybody has a singer in them, good or bad songs are meant to be part of human life in every situation and different moods. Music is therapy for everyone, at least for most of us. But it needs a lot of talent to be a singer,” she asserts.
Talking about her working experience with director Pavan, Ashika says that he is a very active and chirpy person. “He doesn’t waste time. I am someone, who wants to be around such people and be active as much as I can. That’s something I could learn from Raymo’s director. His dialogues are realistic and relatable. He is a really good technician,” he says.
She also has a few good things to share about her co-artist, Ishan. “The heroes whom I have worked till now, are mostly established ones and they come with experience. They would take the initiative to make me comfortable. However, with Ishan, it was the inverse. Initially, we did take time to communicate. But Pavan insisted on us building a rapport, with the film being a love story. Over time, we developed a good friendship, and it did work in our favour for the film. In a way, it also helped us pull off a few intimate scenes without any hesitation,” she says.
Ashika says the best thing about Raymo is the script itself. “It has a lot of variations, and it is not a character-based story. Though it is a love story, there is sentiment and has the right kind of commercial elements. The film discusses the hasty decisions made by young generations. It also talks about young talents’ struggle to succeed. It is a good entertainer with a takeaway message,” she says.
Nine films in six years, Ashika, who is also getting offers from the Tamil and Telugu industries calls it a planned move. “I was ok to be working in films that came my way. But the success of Rambo 2 and the reception I got for Chuttu Chuttu song changed the whole perspective of my film career. It made me feel responsible and be part of good films. That’s when I prioritised working with directors who bring the best out of me.
That’s the reason I am picky with my scripts. I took some time to work in other languages. However, all films are the same to me, and languages don’t matter. But initially, I did feel like an alien in Tamil and Telugu, because of the language. Thankfully, I’m getting good support. But there is nothing like working in the language which makes you feel at home,” she signs off.
… says Ashika Ranganath, who talks in detail about her role as a singer, being part of her first love story, her working experience with director Pavan Wadeyar, and one-film-old-hero Ishan, and more
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