Keerthy Suresh, who shares a close association with director Nag Ashwin due to their hit film Mahanati (2018), revealed that she turned down playing a ‘human’ role in his sci-fi film Kalki 2898 AD. In an interview with Galatta Plus, the actor shared that she was offered another role before the AI bot Bujji.  

‘I wasn’t sure of it’

Keerthy shared during the interview that she turned down a role because she wasn’t sure of it but knew she wanted to be a part of the film somehow.

She said, “Nagi offered me another role in the film, which I wasn’t sure of. It was a human role, I'm glad I said no to it now. He later messaged me one day and said, do you want to peep through the wall at least? I said I would love to do it.” Keerthy also clarified that she wasn’t talking about the role Anna Ben played in the film, a rebel named Kyra, which she called ‘really nice’.

“I didn’t understand initially when he said he wanted me to voice an AI bot. I dubbed for Bujji & Bhairava (on Amazon Prime) before I worked on the film. I had a ball dubbing for the role in multiple languages, giving 5-6 modulations in each language to see which would suit it best. Dubbing for a film is normally easier,” she added.

About Kalki 2898 AD

In the film, Keerthy played BU-JZ-1, aka Bujji, an AI droid for whom Bhairava (Prabhas) builds a ‘body’. Bujji & Bhairava was an animated prelude released ahead of the film, setting up the world of Kalki 2898 AD, apart from the characters. Deepika Padukone played SU-M80, aka Sumathi, in the film, Kamal Haasan played Supreme Yaskin, and Amitabh Bachchan played Ashwatthama. Disha Patani played Bhairava's on-again, off-again girlfriend Roxie.

Upcoming work

Keerthy will soon be seen in the Tamil films Raghu Thatha, Revolver Rita and Kannivedi. She is also debuting in Bollywood with Baby John, starring Varun Dhawan. The film is a remake of the Tamil film Theri, directed by Atlee and starring Vijay.

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