Shanthi Priya opens up on making comeback with Bad Girl, reacts to film facing backlash: ‘I felt like I was reborn’

AFter years aside from the spot, Shanthi Priya returned to the swelled test with badness Girl. The film not only marks her comeback but also reflects her fearless spirit and belief in stories that challenge society’s labels. Helmed by Varsha Bharath, the film also stars Anjali Sivaraman in the lead role.In an exclusive conversation with Hindustan Times, Shanthi Priya opened up about playing the role of Sundari, Ramya (Anjali)’s mother in Bad Girl. She also spoke about the backlash the film received even before its release and revealed the reason behind her bold decision to go bald.Shanthi Priya on making a comeback to big screens with Bad GirlShanthi explained that she felt like a newborn as she made her comeback to the silver screen. She said, “I felt like I was reborn. It was amazing, and that too coming on a silver screen, because I have done TV, OTT and dance drama, but coming back to the place where I belong and coming back to the place where my journey began is like I am coming back to my mum’s house. I am thrilled and excited.”Shanthi Priya shared that she came on board the film after receiving a morning call from the casting director, who told her it was a Tamil project produced by Vetrimaaran and directed by his former assistant, Varsha. She said gender was never a factor in her choices and recalled how, 35 years ago, someone had trusted her as a newcomer. With the same belief in encouraging fresh talent, she agreed to work with Varsha.How Shanthi bagged Bad GirlShe added, “Then, within 5 minutes, Varsha called me. She narrated the story, and it was amazing. The way she was narrating, she was visualising the whole story with great confidence. She knew what she wanted. She was like a pro. I was totally immersed in the character, and I could imagine the whole relationship between my mother and me, and when I became a mother. I literally choked up as she narrated the climax, and I said I am going to do this film. She didn’t audition me either. By the way, I later came to know that she didn’t even know that I was the Nishanthi of 35 years back. Because down South, they called me Nishanthi. She knew Shanthi Priya from Instagram. She recently told me that when she showed her mum a picture of me, her mother told her, ‘What are you saying? Shanthi Priya? This is Nishanthi. My generation knows her as Nishanthi.’ So I was totally all out for the movie.”Talking about the film, Shanthi Priya explained that Bad Girl is not about gender but about how women express themselves across generations. The film follows a bold girl who speaks her mind, a trait society often labels negatively, while excusing the same in men. She questioned why women are judged when even parents don’t impose such labels, recalling how her own mother never called her a “bad girl” despite her being mastikhor, a tomboy and a brat. She added that the title and teaser may cause misconceptions, but stressed that one should not judge a book by its cover.Shanthi Priya on Bad Girl facing backlashShanthi also reacted to the “unnecessary backlash” to the film, accusing the makers of portraying a Brahmin girl in a bad light, and agreed that art should not be connected to religion but viewed as art. She said, “I want to say that this is not about any caste or religion. It happens in every religion. The only thing is that the girl (the director) is comfortable telling a story from where she has grown and from where she comes. If she wanted to show a Bihari girl, she would have to research a lot. And these kinds of movies don’t have a big research team. She has shown three stages of the life of a girl — from school, college, to adulthood. She remembers how she has grown. So if I am comfortable in one particular skin, then I’ll do that. In the movie, if you see, the particular caste they are pointing at, there will only be one or two dialogues about it. Nothing else. It’s everybody’s story.”Shanthi took inspiration from her motherShanthi revealed that she drew inspiration from her mother and her experience of being a mother to two sons for her character. She said, “Each and every scene when I was performing, I was able to relate as a daughter, too. When Ramya was giving expressions to her mother in the film, I was reacting like my mother, and sometimes even took bits from my experience as a mother to give a good understanding of the character. I was seeing myself in the character. I truly believe an actor is known more for expressing through their eyes, and I tried to do that. I think I justified that. Eyes should do the talking.”Talking about the challenges she faced during the filming of Bad Girl, Shanthi explained, “It was like a cakewalk to me. Sometimes my way of portraying the character and Varsha’s view didn’t match. We used to have healthy discussions. We all artists were very understanding and put our souls into it. Sometimes I used to go too much into my character, and I used to have watery eyes, but Varsha didn’t want that. She didn’t want to show a female as a weak victim; that was her statement. She used to tell me, ‘Ma’am, I don’t want tears,’ and I was like, ‘But Varsha, that’s what I am feeling.’ Then she used to take both the takes and said, ‘I’ll take a call on the editing table.’ I trusted her and did both, not thinking that she was taking both shots only to satisfy me, but believe me, she kept what I liked too. So it was give and take.”Shanthi revealed that her sons had not watched the film yet and said, “They might watch it with me in Mumbai. This is getting dubbed in Hindi as well. My elder son had the opportunity to watch the movie because he dubbed a character in Hindi. Then, of course, Anurag Kashyap sir’s assistant asked him, ‘Did you see your mum’s film?’ He said no. Then they showed him two scenes of my character, and he said, ‘Mum, you are psycho Sundari. Jo ghar pe karte ho vohi aapne wahan kiya hai (you have done exactly what you do at home).’ I said, ‘No, I have done a lot less.’”Shanthi Priya on why she went baldShanthi also revealed the reason behind going bald and said, “I wanted to say that I am a badass, but I would say I am a bad girl. I have always done something very bold. I went bald because when I was doing Bad Girl, I was very possessive about my hair. I had highlights, but Varsha didn’t want that, so I had to colour them black. I did that two or three times. So the condition of my hair was not good, very frizzy. I didn’t want to keep the black hair either and wanted to colour it again. So the hairdresser said, ‘Please don’t do it, it’s spoiling your hair.’ Then I asked what the solution was. He first suggested cutting it short, but then he laughed and suggested, ‘You just go bald, so you’ll have totally new virgin hair.’”She recalled her family’s reaction to it and said, “So then that just clicked with me that everyone has done it for movies, so not a bad idea. I discussed it with my mum and she said, ‘Are you mad?’ But she knew I would do what I want. And I didn’t even hear one person saying I don’t look good. My boys loved this look. But the most out-of-the-box compliment was from my brother. He is someone who doesn’t express his love, but I always crave for him to express it. He said, ‘You look 20 years younger.’”