That Mrunal Thakur was brought into the family far later owing to an actress’ departure is not new news. However, lead star Adivi Sesh has time and again called Mrunal one of the best things to have happened to the film, which heads for release on April 10. Dacoit, which also has Anurag Kashyap in a pivotal role, and will be further seeing Adivi step into his dancing shoes for the first time ever has been billed as a Telugu Hindi bilingual romantic action entertainer with a revenge plot.
Hours ahead of the film’s release, Adivi sat down for an exclusive conversation with Zoom, where he was all praise for his co-star Mrunal.
“She is the closest thing I have ever met to a down-to-earth person,” a visibly elated Adivi Sesh remarked, adding “And I mean that literally.” Wondering how? Adivi went on to add with laughter, “Whenever we would discuss scenes, she would literally sit on the floor.”
But that is not all Adivi had to say about the actress. Speaking about Mrunal’s beauty and acting prowess, Adivi revealed, “She is a gorgeous actress and I just thought she was amazing in what she did. Her eyes can bear empathy and soul in a way I have not seen before. And she has this instant connectivity when people watch her on screen.”
Commenting on the initial days of their collaboration, Adivi revealed that the first few days they were shooting with her, each day Mrunal would come with a different mood. “We did not understand what was happening – one day she was happy and bubbly and the very next day she would be somber. However, by the third day I realised she was just responding to the beats of the scene. She was preparing from before she arrived on the set and was actually getting into the mood of the character she was about to do,” Adivi recalled.
While Dacoit is sure to benefit from the electric chemistry of Adivi and Mrunal, what the film will also see, for the first time is the Major and Hit actor stepping into his dancing shoes. Conceding to the fact that Dacoit pushed him out of his comfort zone, Adivi revealed, “Dacoit made me get over my childhood fear of dancing and I was just so happy to see the response. It has been a few weeks since the song launched and it is still trending in the top 20. I think that is quite amazing, I thank Bhojpuri superstar Pawan Singh and Canadian sensation Jonita Gandhi for making the song what it is.”
As for the rest of the cast and crew, Adivi concluded, “I was on the stage at the pre-release event and I went through extraordinary feelings of gratitude. When I looked back on these two and a half years as to how people have stepped up to help us realise our vision, I realised people have put in an extraordinary amount of work and equal measure of ownership which is much more integral to film than mere professionalism.”
Dacoit which is releasing in theatres on Friday has seen a wave of support from the industry in praise of the trailer of the film.