PremiumAshika Ranganath – O2’s Shraddha is a far cry from the bubbly girl-next-door roles I have done before
Ashika Ranganath plays a medical professional in the medical thriller O2, produced by PRK Productions, which will be in theatres on April 19
Last Updated: 08.29 PM, Apr 11, 2024
Ashika Ranganath’s quite happy that she’s getting not one but two releases in April, both of which are vastly different from each other. The first was Avatara Purusha 2 Trishankupayanam, a horror comedy about black magic, which released on April 5 and up next, she has the medical thriller O2, which comes out on April 19. It’s a first for her, and Ashika says that she’s happy that audiences get to see her in two very varied shades in these films.
O2 is Ashika’s first collaboration with the late Puneeth Rajkumar’s home banner, PRK Productions. She plays a medical professional called Shraddha, who, according to Ashika, is quite reserved and poised. Speaking to Kadakk Cinema ahead of the release of O2, Ashika said that Shraddha is quite complex and nothing like the bubbly, girl-next-door characters one tends to associate heroines in Kannada and Telugu cinema with.
The character, she says, was one that pushed her outside her comfort zone, which is also why she wanted to be part of O2. “I have done more of these girl-next-door, cute and bubbly roles, which meant that there would be a certain template – you get a few comedy scenes, romantic moments, shed a few tears, etc. You know what is required to be done for such roles. As Shraddha, though, it had to be different and I had to tone down how I would normally laugh, cry, emote, to portray her,” said Ashika, adding that there were times that she wondered if she was even acting, because director Raghav Nayak insisted that she be as subtle as possible.
While she is excited about being a part of a PRK Productions venture, Ashika regrets that she never actually got around to working with the late Power Star. In fact, she was all set to fulfill this long-standing dream when she was onboarded for Dvitva and while his tragic passing meant this was not to be, Ashika says she feels fortunate to have been considered for the role as one of his heroines.
Her Kannada films apart, in recent times, Ashika has found a good foothold in Telugu cinema, especially after her last, Naa Saami Ranga. “Audiences there are excited about my Kannada films – Avatara Purusha 2 and O2 – and there’s been positive feedback about the trailers and that’s been very encouraging, that you are able to entertain a wider set of people,” she says.