There isn't a single place where Kannada actors and real-life partners Darling Krishna and Milana Nagaraj haven't discussed their scripts. Be it the gym, during a breakfast run, travelling by road or on a flight. "You name a place, and we've discussed a script," Milana says in an interview with The Hollywood Reporter India.
The duo, who recently co-produced and co-wrote Love Mocktail 3, the latest addition to the series that began in 2021, released their film alongside Dhurandhar: The Revenge, and managed to hold its own at the box office. In this interview, the couple unpack the wonderfully wild process that powers their off-screen partnership. Excerpts...
The film has managed to hold its own despite being released alongside 'Dhurandhar: The Revenge'. Can you speak about the film's response?
Milana: We expected this kind of great response. Part 2 ended with the hero adopting a baby girl, so the only thing we could pull off was explore a father-daughter bonding for Part 3. Even before we began writing, we knew that it was going to be an emotional ride for audiences. It was also nice for us to write this film together because it's in a different space, unlike a love story or a family drama. So, we knew it was going to hit the right chords, and the response has been great. With respect to the numbers, I think we'll surpass whatever Love Mocktail 2 did. It's still early days, but we're going to do great numbers for the kind of production costs.
Krishna: See, the thing was, when I planned to release alongside Dhurandhar, I had my plans clear. Our film was for the Kannada audience and the family crowd. People like to watch soft, family-oriented films during holiday weekends like the Ugadi window. That was the idea.
What was it like for you to co-write the movie together as real-life partners?
Milana: Both of us have that comfort. It's great because when Krishna writes, I'll be the one who'll be criticising in case something is not working. And when I come up with ideas, Krishna is always there. It's mutual.
Krishna: I think it's important to respect each other. Generally, films are male-oriented. But the unique part about our films is that you'll see a lot of female characters with strong roles and in-depth characterisation. It comes because of the involvement of Milana.
This works out only when we respect each other. So, we respect each other's knowledge and experience in our respective lives, what we have seen, and what we have gone through.
Can you give us an example where you had to give a correction or a different point of view for a scene?
Milana: See, it happens for a lot of scenes. How it works between us is that if Krishna writes a scene, I take a look at it and give my feedback. Since both of us are actors, we make all corrections from an actor's point of view. And maybe this is one of the reasons why we're better prepared when we go to the set.
So, we're not correcting anything or correcting anybody because we would have had actors coming in before the shoot. Even before giving the script to the actors, Krishna and I would've acted it out a 100 times. So, there's absolutely no waste of time on set.
And what was it like for you to work with each other, not only as actors but also as producers and co-writers.
Milana: A lot of people say it's better to keep a proper boundary between work and home. But it works differently for us. We write while travelling in the car or even discuss the script when we're working out in the gym. That's what we enjoy doing. Got it. We write in various places, people can't even imagine whether we're working out in the gym, having breakfast, being on a flight, or writing. We're so used to working with each other. You name a place, and we've discussed a script. Although we might have differences in opinion while filming, in the end, the film is bigger and greater than anything else.
Krishna: If we're doing a film in our production, it's almost like we do everything. There are no costume designers in the film. We only go and pick out the costumes. We only select every prop that goes to the shoot location. Every outfit, right from the saris to a pair of jeans you see on screen, was handpicked by us together.
We have been working like that since the beginning. While we were doing the first film, we didn't have a big budget [to hire technicians], and now that's become a habit to do everything ourselves. We try not to depend on anyone.
How challenging is it for the two of you to make this unique setup work?
Milana: I'd rather say it's easier because we don't have to deal with external factors like a producer from outside. If Krishna says we will be shooting in three days, everything will be ready in three days. He's very fast.
If we had a producer from outside, then you would have to get approval. In our case, Krishna and I just go for the recce, take the actors there and are ready to roll. I think it's a lot easier, provided that you don't have differences as a couple. Only if Krishna and I are functioning well, the film set will function well.
But how do you find the time to switch off from work?
Milana: We don't switch off (laughs). But now that the film is in theatres, we are actually planning to take a vacation. Both of us love travelling, so before we take off with another project, we want to travel.
Krishna: You see, for us, discussion is all about films or gossip (laughs). We keep ourselves entertained by talking about films most of the time. It's not like we have to "sit-sit" kind of thing to work. When I'm brushing, I might have some ideas, which I'll go and discuss with her. We don't have an office. We work and write at home.
Can you talk to us about the Kannada film industry today and where it's at? Because there is also a certain amount of recognition from the outside
Krishna: Actually, whatever the recognition we've seen is for very, very few films. You can't just represent those films as the entire Kannada industry. Those people have done really well to be recognised.
I think, as an industry, all the actors and directors have to start working towards giving good films. Ten years ago, a good film would have had a good box office run; today, I don't think good films will ever be registered with the audience. It's only the great films that people want to watch in theatres.
Can you take us back to the first part and talk about what made you write this film?
Krishna: I had watched the Tamil film 96. That's where I found the spark. I thought it was a wonderful story, and similar things have happened in my life as well. So I thought, why can't I tell that story?
So that's how I started writing Love Mocktail. I had around three love stories in my life. So I just took all the incidents from my life and made a very cute screenplay. It was around that time that my parents and Milana's parents wanted us to get married, and I was pretty scared. I didn't know about my future. So I wanted to give a hit and then get married.