Nearly 10 months after its theatrical release, the Hindi-dubbed version of the Telugu mystery thriller Nene Naa..?!, titled Meenakshi, is now streaming on SonyLIV (OTTplay Premium). The original Telugu version can be streamed on aha (OTTplay Premium). Caarthick Raju directed the 2023 film, starring Regina Cassandra, Akshara Gowda, Vennela Kishore, and Jayaprakash in the lead roles. 

Nene Naa..?! character roles and storyline

Regina Cassandra plays a modern-day archaeologist, and Akshara is a young woman from a wealthy family in the Roaring Twenties. Despite concurrent filming in Tamil as Soorpanagai, the film remains unreleased. The antagonist Soorpanagai, the sister of King Ravana in the epic Ramayana, inspired the Tamil title.

The present day and the 1920s are two separate eras that the film alternates between. Today, a mystery unfolds when an archaeologist discovers an artefact during her work. An ethereal force attacks an outsider, dragging them into the quicksand. While investigating the matter, the archaeologist's lead, Divya, discovers the skeleton of a woman who lived 120 years ago. The forensic reports then reveal that the skull bears Divya's likeness. Shortly afterward, someone brutally killed the local DSP by holding a spear to his heart.

The forensic study discovered fingerprints on the spear that match those of a young woman. After a woman resembling her sister attacks her brother, Divya alerts him to the unusual events.

Regina Cassandra’s preparation

Earlier, during an interaction with The New Indian Express, Regina spoke about playing the role of an archaeologist. She mentioned that she conducted research on the subject and watched other films to gain a deeper understanding of the process of excavation. Thanks to this, the actor felt more comfortable in her role. 

Regina also paid close attention to the discourse. This film, featuring a woman who is bilingual in Tamil and Telugu, determines her success or failure. Thus, she felt a greater need to pay close attention to my dialogue. After getting her lines, she would sit down with the assistant director and study them very carefully.

Regina is now able to speak Telugu fluently and has a much larger vocabulary thanks to her work in various Telugu films. Therefore, Regina would seek advice from her director whenever she considered modifying, adding, or improving a word or phrase to enhance the piece's meaning and natural flow.

Caarthick was open to Regina's suggestions, and their conversations were fruitful and lengthy. The actor, along with JP and Vennela Kishore, crossed lines with her co-stars. Knowing that everyone was pulling in the same direction to make the project a success was a huge relief.

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