Rukmini Vasanth Exclusive Interview: ‘I won’t deny anything…’, actress on landing Kantara 2, reveals whether she’s in Dragon and Toxic

Rukmini Vasanth, the gorgeous leading lady in sensational hit movies like Sapta Sagaradaache Ello and Madharaasi, is all set to play the lead in Kantara Chapter: 1, alongside Rishab Shetty.

As the film is slated for release in theaters on October 2, 2025, the actress was invited for an exclusive interview with Pinkvilla, where she shared her insights about the film and her future plans in Indian cinema.

Rukmini Vasanth Interview

1. Following the massive success of Kantara, the second installment, Kantara: Chapter 1, is gearing up for release on October 2, 2025. How did you become part of the franchise, and was it difficult to adapt to a character of this scale?

Ans. Yeah, with regard to your first question. I think our director, Rishab Shetty, had seen one of my previous releases, which was the duology Sapta Sagaradaache Ello - Side A and Side B. Rishab Sir is a very close friend of the hero (Rakshit Shetty) and the director (Hemanth Rao) of those films.

Back then, Rishab sir came to the premiere of both parts and was very appreciative and complimentary about my performance. However, I never dreamt that it would translate into him offering me a film, but I think maybe that’s where it all started.

Later, when they were in the process of casting, I think that he and his team had a conversation, and then that's when he reached out to me and asked me if I would like to be a part of the film, and I was obviously over the moon.

Now, concerning your second question about the preparation of this film. It has a very expansive scale in terms of the world that it's trying to capture. So, it was something that needed a lot of preparation. I had to gain some understanding of the cultural context of the Karavali region.

Also, the time period, because the film is a period drama, is set roughly between the 4th and 5th centuries. I had to understand that time period as well. When you're understanding a character, their motivations, their context, and more, it becomes preparation work that you need to do.

Aside from that, there were some fun things that I was able to do, like preparation for horse riding, sword fighting, and a little bit of action here and there. All of that was very, very gratifying. So, it's been one of those films where I've had to prepare on multiple different levels, and that's been a really nice process for me.

2. We all know Rishab Shetty has spent a huge amount of time on this project. What was it like working with him, not just as a co-actor but also to some extent as a director?

Ans. Honestly, it was an eye-opening experience. When someone is taking on something of this scale, they need to be both the eye that sees it all happening, but also an active participant in it.

As an actor, you have to be a participant in the scene, but as a director, you sort of need to have an all-encompassing vision of the whole, of how it's turning out, and you need a certain degree of detachment from your own performance. You need to be able to see how it's contributing to the rest of the scene, and whether that help is beneficial, or whether it's taking away from it.

Basically, you need to be a little bit more unbiased, and I, you know, that's such a difficult thing to do, and in a film like Kantara, especially, which is being shot in live locations all over the place. I walked away from this process being very inspired by how he was able to sort of multitask and manage all of these things at once.

3. From the tremendous success of Sapta Sagaradaache Ello to Kantara Chapter 1, how do you view the growth you've witnessed as an actor?

Ans. Oh wow, you know, it's not been so much time for me to be able to look back and view my own evolution. I hope that there has been an evolution. The one thing that I can say with certainty is that I have tried to choose varied types of characters. That is one certain evolution that I can attest to, but beyond that, I think I'll leave it to the audiences, hopefully, to contribute in that respect.

I don't know if I can make any of those statements, but I have aspired to different kinds of characters, and I've also had those opportunities, so that I can go that far.

4. The talk of the town is that you'd soon be appearing in two more huge projects, including Jr NTR, Prashanth Neel's Dragon, and Yash starrer Toxic. Is there anything you can share about your future projects?

Ans. Absolutely nothing, but thank you for asking. I won’t deny anything either.

5. Ever since your movie Sapta Sagaradaache Ello was a sensational hit, netizens seemed to have labelled you their crush. How do you look at this attention?

Ans. I’ll tell you what, these labels… they're very sweet, but I don't know how much I think about that kind of thing, because these labels are transient, they change. But one thing that has been very gratifying for me, and something that has made me very happy, is that people resonate with that character of Priya (from SSE) so much.

I cared very much about how that character was going to be presented and how we were going to portray it. I'm so touched that a character like that everyone is crushing on. I'm glad that such simplicity is being celebrated by audiences.

6. Your recent film Madharaasi was a hit, grossing quite a number at the box office. What was it like working with Sivakarthikeyan and director AR Murugadoss?

Ans. It was really beautiful. I had a very lovely time working with Murugadoss sir. He was the most senior director that I've had the opportunity to work with so far. Just learning from somebody who spent so long creating such wonderful films, and how lightly they deal with the process of making films, and how they're able to focus. That was something I learned from Sir.

Concerning Siva sir, I mean, there are honestly too many things, but straight off the top of my mind, I really appreciate his constant evolution. People who have seen his work from the past know about his journey, about someone who started as a television host and stuff like that.

With every film choice that he makes, there’s a constant push within him to better it and to push himself. For instance, he was working with an acting coach on sets very openly to push his performance. So he had somebody with whom he would workshop things, and he would discuss things with.

I really like that, because I think it normalizes the process of experimenting while you're making a film. It doesn't seem as if we know everything from day one. A creative act requires exploration, it requires evolution, it requires experimentation, and you should not be afraid of that.

I think Siva sir is very brave in that. He’s not worried that people will think something or judge that process. I think it's a very inspiring step to take. So that is something that I learned from him.

7. After Kannada, Tamil, and possibly Telugu cinema, do you plan to venture into other language movies as well, including but not limited to Hindi and Malayalam?

Ans. I would love to. I don't think you can plan these things exactly. I think if the right opportunities come by, and if there are beautiful roles, yeah. I never say never, and I think I would really love to. I've watched Malayalam films since I was in school, and I've really enjoyed those films.

So, I would love to do a nice rom-com or any kind of film in either language. I am looking forward to it, hopefully soon. Fingers crossed.

ALSO READ: Hridayapoorvam Ending Explained: How does Mohanlal’s Sandeep Balakrishnan find true meaning of love among strangers?