Exclusive! Pooja Hegde: Glad people think we have managed to replicate Titanic

Prabhas and Pooja Hegde Picture Courtesy: Pallav Paliwal

Prabhas and Pooja Hegde's intent for Radhe Shyam seems to be immersing the audiences into a grand spectacle on celluloid, with a sprawling love saga at its heart and astrology at its core. Love and destiny could be incomplete without each other, and the duo has been blessed with both.

In an exclusive interaction with mid-day, 'Radhe Shyam' duo Prabhas and Pooja Hegde talk about astrology, the sweeping scale of this romantic saga, and lots more.

Ask Pooja if she believes in astrology, to which she says, "I really believe in astrology. It's a proper science if you understand it. We need to give astrology and the alternate sciences a fair thought. My dad always says that when you take allopathy medicine and the doctor gives you the wrong medicine, you don't blame allopathy, you blame the doctor. But here, if you meet an astrologer and he doesn't predict the right things for you, you don't blame the astrologer, you end up blaming the science. Why two different thought processes for the same thing? I've had great readings from people, life changing at times. So I feel like I do believe in it."

What does Prabhas have to say about the same question, the same science? "I've never believed in it. But I've heard interesting stories about it. I have never showed my hand to anyone. But the way the story is going, the way he narrated, it was really interesting, that's why I wanted to do the film."

When the trailer made its way on social media and YouTube, the grandeur and one particular shot featuring a sinking ship immediately made fans compare it with the Hollywood juggernaut Titanic (1997). Hegde chuckles and proceeds to quip, "If there's a sinking ship, it has to be Titanic, you know what I mean? There are some things we just assume. It's in our heads, right? If I see a beautiful girl in Switzerland dancing in a Saree, I'm going to think it's a Yash Raj film, there's no comparison about it because we have made it so iconic. But it's not Titanic, it's nothing like Titanic. I'm glad people think we have managed to replicate that in terms of scale. They have done a great job with that sequence, I've seen it and it's pretty amazing. I hope you like my character Prerna in the film. It's been four years since I've been working on it. I signed this film after DJ. This one was getting delayed due to Covid-19 and other things. I feel I have left a little bit of my soul with this character and I hope people like it."

Mumbai's cinema halls are now back to 100% occupancy. Does that make her a lot more excited over the commercial prospects of this giant of a film? She says, "I'm just going ‘Thank God'. I see people walking on the roads walking with masks."

When quipped about describing Radhe Shyam in on word, Hegde ponders with quirky expressions and then says, "I think soul." Blockbuster? "I hope", she exclaims.

It's Prabhas' turn to exclaim when asked about his shyness. Hegde says he's not, but the actor thinks otherwise. "I'm shy. But when you get close, for example during Baahubali's interviews I was different, after Saaho I'm ever better now. I'm getting better like that. I need time."

Maybe what also needs time and will take a lot of time is to beat the collections of Baahubali- The Conclusion. Just the Hindi version did Rs. 511 crore. Does he think he's Demi God? "So the film did like that, but the Superstars are different. They don't need a big hit all the time. Superstars don't need 500 crore, they are Superstars everywhere in this country," he says laughing.

What are his thoughts on wanting to play a Super villain? "Yes yes yes," he says thrice over, and adds, "I will definitely." And what can we expect from the combination of Amitabh Bachchan and Prabhas, who unite for the first time in Nag Ashwin's tentatively titled Project K. "I don't know, I'm so excited to see myself with Amitabh Sir. People will get super excited with the roles we are doing."

When asked about his favourite Amitabh Bachchan films, he says, "Deewar, Sholay, Zanjeer, Amar Akbar Anthony, Namak Halal, many films."