Raai Laxmi whose popularity spans from Tamil to Telugu and from Kannada to Malayalam cinema is making waves with her recently released music video, Majnu 2. Majnu 2 is a romantic yet peppy dance number that was dropped on Valentine’s week this month and has been sung by Bollywood’s singing sensation, Mika Singh. Though movies like Christian Brothers, Mankatha, Kanchana, etc. made her a popular household name in South India, her Hindi erotica, Julie 2, on the other hand, failed to woo the audiences and fell flat at the BO. While people are grooving on Majnu 2 and loving Raai’s performance in the music video, Free Press Journal caught up with the actress for an exclusive chat where she spoke about the music video, her career, her take on OTT and more. Excerpts:
How did the idea to do a music video come to you?
I feel music videos are quite popular these days. The current generation is catching up with singles very quickly. It’s turned out to be a bigger market, the Punjabi ones have become a rage now. There’s a whole new perspective to the idea of doing singles now. Majnu 2 happened to me before Covid but Mika couldn’t release it earlier, so he found the right space to release it on Valentine’s Day. Also, he is a friend and was planning a solo song for a long time but we ended up doing Majnu 2.
Julie 2 didn’t work at the box office. Do you regret doing that film?
I don’t have regret but I have learned my lessons. I purposely gave a huge gap after that. When you sign a film and it doesn’t end up in your favour or it’s not been promoted the way it was promised, it is disheartening. It was projected in a different way. As an actor, it is not in our hands and have control over the marketing of the film. After Julie 2 was released, I already had projects lined up down south. In fact, it took a lot of my time and I couldn’t do many south projects. I thought I’ll do a women-centric film as my 50th film but it backfired. Julie 2 is credited as my film; I can’t run away with it.
Was it a conscious decision to not do any Hindi film after Julie 2 tanked?
I got several offers in Hindi too but I wanted people to forget me in Julie 2 which is why I choose not to do Hindi projects and shoot down south since it is my root and this is where I come from. Sometimes, you take time to heal.
What kind of roles are you looking at right now in your career?
The whole market has opened to the digital industry. I am open to doing a lot more newer things now. During Covid, I did Poison 2 for an OTT platform and it did well. I am doing another web series but I am waiting for the official confirmation. I have a lot of work in the South and whenever I get time and space, I come to Mumbai and work. If something concrete comes in Hindi, I will surely take a break from the South and do it.
As an actor, what’s your take on the medium and content integration?
Since OTT has become huge now, things have changed. Earlier, if we would anything, we would be typecasted. We have not judged anymore for the kind of roles we do. The whole perspective has been remodelled. A few years back, if I would have done a song, people would have trashed me but this isn’t the case now. The social media ballgame has entirely changed. The reels are giving us money now and it’s the easiest way.
How was your reaction after watching Laxmii since it was a remake of your blockbuster Kanchana?
I always wanted to do the Hindi remake of my own film which was a super-hit in all four languages but Laxmii was changed a lot in Hindi. It also came to me but for some reason, it didn’t work out. It was a different film when I heard it in the narration but there are many changes in the final and the plot was heading nowhere. I was very upset since it is my baby.
