Rashmika Mandanna on portraying Maratha queen Yesubai in 'Chhaava:'I consider myself a blank slate'

Actress Rashmika Mandanna known for her diverse roles in Indian cinema is stepping into the world of historical drama with her portrayal of Yesubai in the highly anticipated film ChhaavaIn a candid conversation with ANI Rashmika opened up about the challenges she faced in bringing the character of Yesubai a revered figure in Maratha history to lifeThe actress revealed that portraying a real historical figure was a first for her This is the first time I am doing a character that already existed in history said RashmikaFor me it was an incredible opportunity as Ive never done a biopic before It was something entirely new to me Every time I did films before I created a character but for the first time I wasnt creating a charactershe is Yesubai Theres nothing of Rashmika in her the Pushpa actor addedRashmika admitted that stepping into the shoes of a royal warrior queen was both thrilling and dauntingI didnt know how the Maharani would walk or talk or act Weve read about them but weve never seen them she saidSeeking guidance from director Laxman Utekar she kept checking her portrayal to ensure it reflected the essence of the historical figureLaxman Sir took care of all of that and luckily I got the opportunity to work with him I got to play a beautiful graceful and strong character and today Im really proud of it she addedOne of Rashmikas biggest hurdles was language as Hindi is not her first language Hailing from Coorg in South India she found it challenging to deliver her lines in Hindi but mentioned that she worked hard to overcome this barrierI consider myself a blank slate and I let the directors transform me Rashmika shared adding The clothes jewellery and set were all ready for me so I just had to surrender to the director and give him what he wanted And I was happy with what I didRashmikas transformation also involved physically demanding costumes with intricate saree draping and heavy jewellery becoming part of her daily routineShe explained Yes theres so much draping happening I had to wear a saree from scratch every day as I didnt have a predraped saree It was hectic because in the middle of the day if you needed to use the restroom you had to remove everything she laughed The jewellery was heavy too but we wanted to keep it as authentic as possible so we used real gold jewellery It was all heavy but at the same time thats what brought the character to lifeWhile there are no dance sequences in Chhaava Rashmika highlighted the importance of the films music noting that the songs serve as a score rather than traditional dance numbersThe films musical score is crafted by AR Rahman adding to the grandeur of the period dramaChhaava stars Vicky Kaushal in the lead role of Chhatrapati Sambhaji Maharaj the son of Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Akshaye Khanna portrays the role of AurangzebDirected by Laxman Utekar the film is set against the backdrop of the Maratha Empire and chronicles the life of the valiant king focusing on his reign and strugglesChhaava is set to release on February 14This story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed agencies Midday accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability trustworthiness reliability and data of the text Midday managementmiddaycom reserves the sole right to alter delete or remove without notice the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever