Exclusive! Chaithra J Achar: The different stories across timelines in Blink was what caught my attention

Chaithra J Achar had a good 2023, with her performances in Toby and Sapta Sagaradaache Ello garnering her a lot of praise. The actress is now hoping to start 2024 also on that note, what with her first release being a ‘musical sci-fi’ thriller. Called Blink, the film has been directed by newbie Srinidhi Bengaluru and has Dheekshith Shetty in the lead. The narrative takes place across two timelines with multiple plot points playing out and this, says Chaithra, is exactly what piqued her interest.

Chaithra’s character is seen in an earlier time period, as is evident from the dull and muted colour palette the filmmaker has used. “For me it was interesting because there are so many stories running across time zones and the director’s approach and narration caught my attention. Srinidhi was so sure of what he was saying. His screenplay narration was one of the best I have had in my career so far and to think that he was all of 22 when he first approached me. The clarity he had just blew my mind and I thought to myself that even though I don’t know what he was going to do with the film, his narration was brilliant,” says the actress.

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The best part, adds Chaithra, is that Srinidhi executed the film exactly as he had narrated it. “Blink is perhaps the second or third film in my career that I said yes to almost immediately after the narration. There was no second thought, even though it is a film made by a bunch of newcomers. Dheekshith was the only one with some experience, so to say, at that time. He had a TV stint prior and had just done Dia,” she says.

Chaithra worked on Blink immediately after Gilky and before Toby and Sapta Sagaradache Ello, but since the film is coming out only now, it seems as if her styling was inspired by, say, a Jenny or Surabhi. “It was not meant to look similar, but it’s how I imagined Devaki Aras to be, as someone from the late 80s or early 90s would present herself. I wanted her to be rather innocent, but also have a certain maturity that comes from being in that era,” she says.

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In the trailer of the film, Chaithra as Devaki, is shown to be pregnant and that Dheekshith, in modern day is trying to figure out the truth about his father’s disappearance. Are the two connected? Is she Dheekshith’s mother? “Devaki is a mother, for sure, but to who is something you will have to figure out when you watch the film on March 8, she signs off.