Kajal Aggarwal interview: ‘Satyabhama’ is a mass film, but not a lady ‘Singham’

Kajal Aggarwal discusses her 60th film, Satyabhama, her return to action sequences post-maternity break, and future projects including Indian 2.

Kajal Aggarwal has been in the thick of interviews and promotions for her new Telugu film, Satyabhama, over the last few weeks. At an apartment in the vicinity of HITEC City, Hyderabad, which doubles up as her workspace, the actor who has just completed a photoshoot takes off her chunky earrings and puts her feet up to sit comfortably on the sofa as we begin to speak.

Satyabhama, directed by Suman Chikkala with screenplay by writer-director Sashi Kiran Tikka (of Goodachari fame), is Kajal’s 60th film, scheduled to release on June 7. Since she headlines the film, the promotions are worked around #Kajal60 and she is termed ‘Queen of the masses’. “The tag came from my fans and the makers incorporated it; it was not like my team made a sales pitch for such a tag. I am grateful and consider myself lucky for the loyalty, support and encouragement I have been receiving for 17 years,” says Kajal, adding that Satyabhama is a ‘massy’ film. “My character — ACP Satyabhama — is in a commercial space, yet off the beaten track.”

Playing a cop in an action drama has been on her wishlist but Kajal asserts that Satyabhama is not akin to a female version of Singham. She features in full-fledged action sequences but the narrative, she explains, shows the emotional vulnerability of a female cop. “Satyabhama is feisty and can use law and order to help the oppressed, but we also see how she gets affected by everything that happens around her. It was emotionally and physically a tough film to do.” 

The task was tougher since Kajal swung into action mode after a maternity break; she has been juggling between being a new mother and fulfilling her work commitments, including director Shankar’s Indian 2 headlined by Kamal Haasan. 

Before discussing the action sequences, Kajal recalls being emotionally invested in the cop drama when she heard the narration of Satyabhama. She had discussions with the writers (Suman Chikkala, Sashi Kiran Tikka and Prashanth Reddy) on the backstory of her character. “The makers had several hypothetical situations that made me understand how my character would behave in different situations. The screenplay does not explain much and trusts the intelligence of the audience. We had workshops and I made notes on my copy of the script.” 

One of the toughest sequences, says Kajal, involved the climax for which the team rehearsed for 10 days. “When Satyabhama comes face to face with her nemesis, she has a choice — to overpower or leave the opponent to realise and reform, for closure and justice. What she does at that point defines who she is.” 

When Kajal faces the camera after such elaborate preparations, does she perform as rehearsed or let spontaneity take over? “There are times when all the rehearsals help; there are times I go blank and decide to be spontaneous since I have understood the story and the situation. Sometimes those spontaneous shots end up better than the rehearsed ones.”