Rukmini Vasanth is having a great time. The Indian actor, who has just finished Rishabh Shetty’s blockbuster Kantara: Legend Chapter 1 and has Yash’s Toxic and a Prashanth Neel film starring NTR Jr. coming up, is clear in her approach: she is an independent woman who makes decisive choices.
The Royal Academy of Dramatic Arts graduate, who gained attention for her nuanced performance opposite Rakshit Shetty in the critically acclaimed film Sapta Sagaradaash Ero (2023), told Variety that her performance as Kanakavati in Rishabh Shetty’s mythological prequel was carefully constructed from the beginning.
Set centuries before the 2022 sleeper movie hit, ‘Kantara: Legend – Chapter 1’ depicts a conflict over a sacred forest area, and Vasant’s character harbors a secret ambition that ultimately drives the story. The pivotal nature of her role was established from the first meeting with Shetty and his writing team Anirudh Mahesh and Shanil Guru, and the character’s carefully hidden motivations and dramatic reveals were integral to the film’s structure from the beginning.
“When Sir (Rishabh Shetty) called me for my first narration, he told me bluntly that everything hinges on this girl’s sudden twist and her deep-seated desire to take over this land, which she doesn’t reveal till the last moment,” Vasant says. “It was well planned and I was fully aware of that from the first meeting.”
The actor admits that the responsibility was daunting, especially considering the huge success of the first ‘Kantara’ film. However, the prequel’s clear historical setting and visual identity helped establish different audience expectations.
“From all the material that the team behind this film released, the audience was somewhat prepared for the fact that this is a completely different world that we’re about to enter,” she explains. “It’s not the 1990s Kundapura that we saw in the previous film. This is a completely different world. I didn’t feel like people were expecting a certain type of character, so I think leveling the ground helped me.”
Vasanth, who draws on his training from the London School of Drama, talks about the challenge of adjusting his acting style to the scale of ‘Kantara: Legend – Chapter 1’ while maintaining emotional authenticity. This is a notable departure from her breakthrough work in director Hemanth M. Rao’s film Sapta Sagaradaash Ero, which she describes as valuing silence and space in dialogue and interaction.
“One of the great things I’ve been able to learn over my career is which styles belong where,” she says. “In the world of Kantara: Chapter 1, some of the more subdued things can be too subtle to notice because the scale is so large that you have to fit into that scale.”
Vasanth uses a vivid analogy to explain his approach to tuning performance. “You have to regulate what you need,” she says. “It’s like talking. In a quiet living room, you can afford to whisper, but if you’re on the subway, you have to shout a little.”
Rukmini Vasant – “Kanthara: The Legend – Chapter 1”
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The actor credits her disciplined approach to her background as a military father and a dancer mother. However, she stresses that her time at drama school was when she truly understood the need for preparation and consistency.
“Discipline and preparation will give you the ability to compete regardless of external variables,” Vasanth says. “You can’t put too much emphasis on what kind of environment you need to perform well in a film that’s worth it.”
She described the difficult production conditions of ‘Kantara: Legend – Chapter 1’ with constant rain and limited shooting slots. “You’re going to have a crew carrying a huge rig up and down hills and things like that. So at that point, you can’t go, ‘That’s not right for me.’ You just have to go at it and do it as well as you can.”
Looking at her filmography, Vasanth is drawn to characters who are emotionally decisive even when constrained by circumstances. She believes this pattern is what makes for compelling storytelling.
“The characters make decisions that may not necessarily be right or wrong, but they make decisions that drive the story. I think they know what to do in that moment,” she says. “It’s just women who have some agency and are doing something.”
Vasanth’s upcoming projects include the much-awaited ‘Toxic’ co-starring ‘The Elder One’ director Jeethu Mohandas with ‘KGF’ star Yash, and a film featuring ‘Salar’ and ‘KGF’ filmmaker Prashanth Neel and ‘RRR’ star NTR Jr.
For “Toxic,” she says she tried something she hadn’t done before. “It’s different than anything I’ve worked on before. I’m just as nervous to see how it plays out,” she says. “The style of work was really, really fascinating and very different from anything I’ve come across before. The way Yash Sir and Geeshu approached this film, the way it was written and the way it was shot was a unique experience for me.”
On working with Neil and NTR Jr., she praises their continued enthusiasm for the technology. “It’s always so nice when you work with people who are doing such powerful work and are not at all hindered by what it brings to them. You still see a sense of playfulness and fun.”
On the topic of pan-India casting, Vasanth suggests that the label is more related to the commercial side of a film than the creative side. She cites historical precedents such as actor-director V. Ravichandran’s multidisciplinary film “Shanti Kranthi” (1991).
“I think pan-Indian films are emerging. They’ve been tried for a really long time,” she says. “They’re just labels, and actors work across multiple industries all the time. We’re all very lucky that it’s been successful and still profitable.”
Vasanth currently works in several South Indian film industries and has upcoming projects in Kannada, Tamil and Telugu films, representing a new generation of actors who are fluid across language markets. She declined to comment on reports of collaboration with director Mani Ratnam.
