Saiee M. Manjrekar on signing Telugu films: Language will never be a barrier

Actress Saiee M. Manjrekar had a Bollywood debut in the 2019 Salman Khan biggie “Dabangg 3”. She is now looking southward, with two Telugu films lined up — “Major” and “Ghani”.

While “Major” is a bilingual biographical drama, “Ghani” is a sports adventure film. Actor-filmmaker Mahesh Manjrekar’ daughter Saiee opened up on her move to enter the Telugu industry.

“For me language will never be a barrier because I want to let my performance speak more. This is a lesson I learnt from my dad that for an actor, language should never be a barrier. It’s the actor’s performance that should do the work,” she says.

“Major” starring Adivi Sesh is a bilingual based on life of 26/11 martyr Sandeep Unnikrishnan. Saiee plays the role of Neha, wife of Sesh’s character.

“It wasn’t an informed decision (to sign Telugu films) but the more I thought about it the more it made sense. When I read my character in ‘Major’, I fell in love with it. Some movies you read and you can imagine yourself doing this. The language was secondary. Then “Ghani” also happened. My parents told me that there is so much happening with pan-India films and wherever good work is happening, I should go, ” she says.

On “Dabangg 3”, she says starting in a Salman Khan film had its advantages. “More than doing a Salman Khan film, having him as a mentor is so good. He has been in the industry and has done everything. So, every time I had a question, I knew I have a person to go to and talk of anything, who is well-versed in the industry,” says Saiee.