Aishwarya Rajesh awaits the release of 'Republic' on October 1. In this interview, the 'Tuck Jagadish' actress talks about the film, her working experience with Sai Dharam Tej and Deva Katta, her future projects, and more.

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'Republic' has elements that are inspired by true incidents. True-to-life films manage to create a strong impact. They are educational as well. We come to learn about a lot of realities we never knew of. Cinema plays an influential role in our lives. It's a platform that Deva Katta has used for an educational purpose.

This is not a hero-heroine movie. There are characters, which have their own place in the story. From Jagapathi Babu garu to Ramya Krishna garu, everyone has a strong character.

Deva Katta's vision is quite elaborate. Even small characters and scenes get registered in the audience's mind. Recently, we have seen Pa.Ranjith's Tamil movie 'Sarpatta Parambarai'. It created so much impact. 'Republic' is going to do the same in terms of impact.

Sai Dharam Tej's character is exciting in the movie. He is a government official who exhorts the public. He worked really hard like a school-going boy and practised the dialogues at length. There is a courtroom scene that he completed as a non-stop monologue in a single shot. Everyone on set clapped.

Deva Katta is a perfectionist. He is particular about even those who are in the background and how they deliver a line. I worked on the dubbing portions for 15 days, while the shooting took 22 days.

I don't mind playing small roles. I have followed this rule in Tamil cinema as well. The characters I play must be memorable. In 'World Famous Lover', I played Suvarna opposite Vijay Deverakonda. Although the film didn't do well, my character and performance were lauded.

It was fun working with Ramya Krishna garu. She becomes a different person in front of the camera. I used to be stunned. She is a natural actress who becomes magical in front of the camera.

I haven't got to meet with Tej in the hospital. They are allowing only family members into the hospital ward.

Krithi Shetty has become a star with just one film. How was it possible? Because she did a performance-oriented role in 'Uppena'. The same goes for Sai Pallavi. I am not against playing commercial, glamorous roles. But they are tough for me. In Tamil, I am doing performance-oriented roles. In Telugu, I am slow with doing female-oriented movies.

I can't say anything about 'Bheemla Nayak' right now. I don't want to say whether I am a part of it or not.

I am doing a lot of movies in Tamil. In Telugu, I am in talks for a film. I might do that. 'Gatham' director Kiran Reddy narrated a story to me. I am yet to take a call.

'Kousalya Krishnamurthy' was an extraordinary film. It was my proper first Telugu movie. But since 'Saaho' was released a week later, it was taken out of theatres. Once the movie was aired on TV, I received a number of laudatory messages. It's a TV hit for me. I have acted in Malayalam and Hindi as well. But I am popular the most in Tamil.

I like Samantha garu a lot. She can pull off both performances and glamorous roles. I love Soundarya garu, too, a lot.

OTT is a secondary medium. Theatres are always going to be the first medium. Watching a movie in a cinema hall is always a different experience. OTT has definitely made a huge change. Producers are happy when they make money from OTT deals during the pandemic. Audience from other languages are able to watch our movies.

I have listened to Pawan Kalyan garu's speech at the pre-release even of our movie. His speech was bold. It's good that he spoke at length.