Tamannaah on Queen remake: Important to retain essence of the original

Tamannaah Bhatia

While one might assume that the creative heads remaking a Hindi film in another language may wish to showcase it in new light, Tamannaah Bhatia reveals that she was eager to retain the spirit of Queen (2014) when working on That Is Mahalakshmi.

"Think about it, why would I choose to remake Queen? It would be so that I could enjoy the same moments that we laughed on. I am a fan of the original film and it was important that we kept the essence intact," she says of the Telugu version of the Kangana Ranaut starrer.

Bhatia in the remake

However, the actor says that she brought her own quirks to Mahalakshmi. "She is a nerd; that was a twist I gave her. Also, the spectacles that I wear in the film are similar to the ones I wear otherwise. I also have a peculiar laugh that my friends are exposed to. I used that too," she grins, adding that imitating Ranaut would make her act "caricaturish". "[Kangana] brought the North Indian flavour to her character. Similarly, we had to bring the essence of South India in the film to appeal to our people."

A still from Queen

Reports suggested that Bhatia had a falling out with original director Neelkanth, which led to Prashanth Verma coming on board. But she insists that the handing over of the baton was an amicable decision. "A few things were promised to me before we started filming, and those were not being met during the shoot. These were essentially creative calls. So, it was mutually decided that someone else direct the film. Neelkanth was gracious about it, and we still share a great rapport."

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