Divya Uruduga and Arathi Nair on playing intense characters in their next movie, a thriller

This week’s Kannada film release Ranchi, which has Prabhu Mundkur in the lead role, sees actresses Divya Uruduga and Aarthi Nair in pivotal roles, too. The duo talks about their characters in this suspense thriller helmed by Shashikanth Gatti. Aarthi, who is playing the role of a cop says, “I play the role of a diligent deputy commissioner. She has her task cut out to crack a case involving a gang of criminals who have been behind a series of financial frauds.” “I am basically a classical dancer. My director helped me with training sessions to get my mannerisms spot on. As a dancer, my body postures are always graceful, so I needed to shun my feminine energy to play this role of a tough officer, which was quite transformative, both mentally and physically,” she shares. “I was the youngest on the set. I got to learn a lot from the others who had more experience. Working with Prabhu and other coactors, helped me pick up the nuances of speaking Kannada,” she added. Divya says, “I have depicted the role of an associate director, who also happens to be a rather sensitive person. Since it’s based on a real-life character, I had to be very careful with my expressions. The role also leads to a major twist in the tale. I play the love interest of Prabhu, and my character is very protective of him and ever ready to jump to his rescue and support.”