Aakanksha Singh is thrilled to debut with Pailwaan

Aakanksha Singh is not a novice as far as showbiz goes. She has a fair track record of good work on TV and in south films (Telugu and Tamil), and is now ready for audiences in two more industries. Aakanksha is Kichcha Sudeep’s leading lady in his much-awaited

Pailwaan

, which is getting a five-language release on September 12. “After roles in a few of TV series, Na Bole Tum Na Maine Kuch Kaha, Savdhaan India and Gulmohar Grand, I realised that I was getting very similar characters on the small screen,” she says.
Aakanksha adds, “As an actor, you absolutely need to do different roles to establish yourself as a versatile artiste. I began doing commercials and shortly after was called for a role in

Badrinath Ki Dulhania

. It was not a lead role, but one that I was sure that audiences would remember. Moreover, it gave me the opportunity to work with a great banner,” explains Aakanksha.
Subsequently, the Jaipur lass got to debut in Tollywood with

Malli Rava

, which she followed up with Devadas and the upcoming Clap. “Earlier this year, I got a call from Swapna Krishna, the producer of Pailwaan, asking me to audition for a role in the film. I listened to her, but didn’t think it was a serious conversation, until I got another call from her office. In fact, at the time, I didn’t even realise the star power of the leading man Sudeep. Once I agreed for a meeting, I discussed the offer with friends from the industry and they reminded me of his work in Bollywood — Phoonk, Rann and Makkhi. Honestly, that is when it dawned on me just how big the offer was,” she says candidly.
When she was signed up, Pailwaan was only meant to be a Kannada film, but one that she says was a big production nevertheless. “From the story to the grand execution and the star cast, the scale of the project was always humungous and once Krishna decided to dub it into the other south languages — Telugu, Tamil and Malayalam — as well as Hindi, it only got bigger. In effect, the film has become my debut as a leading lady in Kannada and Malayalam,” she says.
In the film, Aakanksha plays Rukmini, the love interest of Sudeep’s character, but that is about all she divulges. “If you see the songs from the film, you will note that my character has three distinct shades. The response to my look in the film has been good. The best part of working on this, though, is that I got to act with seasoned actors like Sudeep, Sushant Singh and Suniel Shetty, for whom Pailwaan marks the Kannada film debut as well. I could not have got a better launchpad in Kannada cinema than Pailwaan,” she signs off.