An overview into how Shivani has chosen interesting roles within the girl next door parts and has found success especially in the context of Telugu girls entering film industry
In the era of importing heroines from either north or southern states it isn’t easy to find local talents as leading ladies. Thankfully this has changed in the last few years with both established and new production houses. Shivani Nagaram is a good example of this refreshing change apart from Vaishnavi in Baby and Sridevi Appala in Court etc. For someone with no particular interest in acting by her own admission and a rank outsider Shivani has had a solid journey so far. Of course, the backing of Bunny Vasu and Vamsi Nandipati has a big hand too. Having said that Shivani has chosen interesting roles as well especially with Little Hearts and Hey Balwanth. There is strongness to these women in terms of the decisions they make.
For example, in Little Hearts Kathyayini quietly takes charge of the both the relationship and career. The portions of Kathyayini saying that we will make the long-distance relationship work and then convincing her parents on what she wants to pursue are solid examples of this. In Hey Balwanth too there is a good trajectory from having a perception about women in a certain kind of business and then the eventual realization. At the end the character Mithra accepts the hero with his family business.
Before getting into the three films it’s necessary to talk about the mini web series Mr Girlfriend. It’s still there in Youtube with nine episodes: as the title suggests the story is mainly anchored on Shivani Nagaram’s Madhumita. The story has a few similarities to late Uday Kiran’s Manasantha Nuvve but the web series is very much its own beast.
Shivani’s role has different shades whether it’s being an authoritative boss: emotions of jealousy when seeing her childhood sweetheart with another female, a certain anger too on how he had treated her in childhood and at the same time love. Shivani did a very fine job in pulling off the different shades. She particularly shined in the sequences of jealousy as well as well as an emotional bit explaining the tough behaviour. However, the highlight episode is when Shivani switches into a Telangana dialect with perfection. The dialogue delivery coupled with the lines makes it very entertaining.
Shivani’s first movie Ambajipetta Marriage band was an intense drama dealing with the theme of caste and the fight for self-respect among others. Shivani played the role of Lakshmi, a sister of a feudalistic man. The role comes with multiple shades whether it’s the playfulness in the saloon portions or the dramatic bits in the latter part. The breakup sequence in particular was job very well done by Shivani. In the sad version of Gumma there is a portion where she communicates with just the eyes and the young actress did an excellent job. In fact, of one of Shivani’s biggest strengths is expressing emotions through body language. This is very apparent in both Little Hearts and the latest Hey Balwanth as well.
In little Hearts there is a sequence with the on-screen father SS Kanchi taking away the phone, this is before the Kathyayini song. Mouli’s Akhil says that he has a surprise for her birthday that particular night. Shivani’s portrayal of anxiety through body gestures was absolutely solid. Mention must also be made of the sequence where Mouli’s Akhil asks are you aunty. The instant change in body language as she widens her eyebrows in anger is another perfect example of this.
In Hey Balwanth’s interval stretch Mithra goes through major shock. She takes great pride in belonging to an orthodox family. But this firm belief is challenged when her grandfather is found in lodge post an act of sex. It’s a double jolt, one the previous revelation of what her boyfriend’s father runs and now this. The emotion of shock was superbly done without any big dialogues. Even the tension of Mithra when she lands up at lodge fully knowing what happens there was wonderfully portrayed by Shivani. In both these scenes the reliance is on expressing through facial expressions rather than big dialogues.
Apart from acting Shivani has also sung songs in a couple of movies in fact she comes from a family which is musically trained. Her singing debut happened with music director and childhood friend Sinjit Yeramalli. The song name is Amaayakanga from the film Aarambham. She was also musically involved in the smash hit little hearts apart from acting.
Shivani is also a trained Kuchipudi dancer who has given stage shows too. However there hasn’t been much scope for dancing so far in the three films.
Shivani Nagaram has a vibrant and level-headed personality and that clearly reflects in the interviews. There is a clear intent to experiment with different genres in the upcoming films. Here’s hoping that the actress has a long career with good body of work. It would be nice to see the actress in a full-fledged dance film especially given her background.
