‘Not running a race’: Keerthy Suresh on her Hindi cinema journey

Actress Keerthy Suresh said she was eager to venture into Hindi cinema, though she preferred waiting for the right opportunity to come along naturally rather than forcing it.

Suresh debuted in Hindi cinema with the 2024 Varun Dhawan-starrer Baby John. She will next be seen in the Hindi web series Akka.

“I definitely wanted to enter Hindi at some point, and it happened eventually. So, this (Akka) was the start, and then in between came Baby John, and then after that, I did a movie with Rajkummar Rao, it is called Raftaar. It should be released sometime soon,” Dhawan told PTI.

“I’m not in a race. It’s not like, ‘I need to do a number of films’; I’m doing what I like. And eventually this happened. This is not something I was running towards. It’s something which fell in place. And now I (will) see how I can take it forward,” she added.

Written and directed by Dharmaraj Shetty, Akka marks his debut as a filmmaker.

According to Suresh, director Dharmaraj Shetty offered her the role in the period crime thriller series Akka after being impressed by her performance in the Tamil film Saani Kaayidham.

“Dharma (director) saw this film of mine called Saani Kaayidham, it’s a very bada** character, but vulnerable. I remember the first meeting.... He told me that he saw Saani... and I was like, ‘Now, I know why you want me to do this character’,” she recalled.

Produced by YRF Entertainment, the series is set in Pernuru, a fictional kingdom shaped by generations of women who built, governed and protected it.

Also starring Radhika Apte, the gangster series set in the 1980s is set to premiere on Netflix on October 30.