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Sobhita Dhulipala is confident that her performance in Pa Ranjith's upcoming Tamil film Vettuvam is her best work yet.
In a chat with The Hollywood Reporter India, Dhulipala elaborated on her claim. "Not to sound pompous when I say it's my best film yet... but what I mean is, I have poured all of myself into it, much more than ever before. It is my best film in that way."
The role, she realised, represented a departure from a pattern she had fallen into: "That of a woman who had a lot under the surface, a backbone of steel underneath. There was a grace on top and a lot happening under the water."
She adds that this consistency was something she had internalised as an actor without noticing. "I didn't realise I'd gotten used to playing someone who had to be restrained."
Dhulipala describes her character in Vettuvam as sharing certain qualities with earlier roles, like the steel and the agency, but the interpretation is entirely new. "It is a very front-footed character; she doesn't give a damn what the other person thinks, and does what she does because she believes in it — she's not calculating, she's very free." She explains that she had been waiting for such a character, one she describes as "kinetic, energetic and free."
"Someone who laughs and screams and spits and punches. There's a vitality to it. There's so much action, and there is dance. It's a very different personality completely. I've not played something like this, it's crazily written!"
Speaking on how director Pa. Ranjith helped her find the character, Dhulipala says he was the one who drew those qualities out of her.
"Funnily, I'm very animated and free in expression." Pa. Ranjith she said, saw that in her and pushed her toward it rather than away. "He encouraged me to just unleash the dragon. I think he's someone who sees a woman as a very powerful being, and he admires it, as a man and as a storyteller. He really encouraged that expression."
Watch our full interview with Dhulipala on The Hollywood Reporter India's YouTube channel