Exclusive! Working with Diganth was a plus, but the clincher for Thimayya and Thimayya was Anant Nag sir: Aindrita Ray

If you go by Aindrita Ray’s social media feed, it may seem as if the actress and her hubby Diganth have been on a series of holidays. But that couldn’t be further from the truth, she tells us. The last few months have been stressful, given Diganth’s spinal injury, which he sustained when a backflip went wrong. “There was a pre-booked trip that we had to go on, as I had not met my sister since the pandemic. Diganth had to return early because of Gaalipata 2 promotions. He had not completely recovered from the earlier injury and then hurt himself while playing badminton during the Appu Cup. Between this new tendon tear and the old injury, which has also needed more surgery, life has been about a lot of hospital stints actually,” she says.

The couple is now looking forward to their new movie release, Thimayya and Thimayya, which comes out on December 2. As a policy, Aindrita and Diganth try not to do films together. “We break this rule only if we believe the script is compelling enough and warrants both of us being in it. This is why there is always a long gap between movies starring the two of us, whether it is Manasaare, Parijatha or Kshamisi Nimma Katheyalli Hannavilla. Thimayya and Thimayya happened by chance. The team is from Mumbai and had come to meet Diganth for a narration. The director, Sanjay Sharma, had no idea that I am an actress, and when Diganth told him about my body of work, he asked if I could play a role in the film. It was quite interesting and that is how we got to work together yet again,” says Aindrita.

In the film, Aindrita plays Jyotsana, a neighbour and friend of Jr Thimayya, Diganth’s character. “The film revolves around the grandfather and grandson played by Anant Nag sir and Diganth, which is not smooth sailing at first. They have differences and don’t get along. Jyotsana brings in some sense of normalcy to their relationship and helps them bond again,” says the actress, adding, “What’s interesting about the character is that she is very mature and grounded, which is quite unlike most of my other roles in Kannada cinema, where I am expected to be the bubbly girl-next-door.”

While working with Diganth was, no doubt, a selling point for Aindrita, the absolute clincher was that she would get to work with Anant Nag. “Diganth has been fortunate to do multiple films with him, whereas for me, this was a first. I absolutely loved the experience. Although Diganth has more screen space with Anant sir, a lot of their scenes are about their conflict, whereas my portions with him are cute,” says Aindrita.

Meanwhile, the actress, who had two Hindi releases in the last one year, Bhavai with Pratik Gandhi and a horror thriller called Cold, by director Vikram Bhatt. “I had two back-to-back releases on OTT and now, Thimayya and Thimayya is coming to theatres. I haven’t signed anything new year, and hopefully, once this comes out, more offers will come my way,” she signs off.