Famous actress and now politician Isha Koppikar recently shared an interesting story from the early days of her career. She recalled an experience which she still can't forget while shooting for the 1998 film Chandralekha where she starred alongside South superstars Nagarjuna Akkineni and Ramaiah Krishnan in the lead roles.
Isha revealed in an interview that Nagarjuna slapped her a total of 14 times during the shooting. This initially surprised everyone, but the truth was quite amusing. It wasn't due to any personal dispute or anger, but rather a scene that demanded it. Isha was slapped in that scene, and she wanted it to feel absolutely real.
Isha Koppikar explained that she always took her work seriously and was trying out method acting at the time. She said that when Nagarjuna first slapped her, it was very light and felt like a loving touch. Isha felt that this wouldn't give the scene the same intensity, so she asked Nagarjuna to hit harder, like a real one.
The director repeatedly insisted that the scene should resemble real anger. But Isha's biggest problem was that she couldn't portray anger on camera. While she gets angry in real life, the angry expression wasn't coming across on film. This led to repeated retakes.
Nagarjuna had to slap Isha multiple times to perfect the scene. Initially, he was hesitant and repeatedly asked, Should I really hit you? But Isha herself wanted it to look real. In this effort, she had to be slapped 14 times in a row.
After being slapped so many times, Isha's face became red. After the shooting was over, Nagarjuna became very upset and apologized repeatedly. But Isha clearly stated that it was not Nagarjuna's fault, but rather that she herself wanted the scene to look real. She said, I said it, so why are you apologizing?
Released in 1998, Chandralekha was a comedy-drama film, a remake of a Malayalam film. Audiences loved the pairing of Nagarjuna and Isha, and the film proved to be a box office hit. This film gave Isha recognition in the South Indian film industry, and she still fondly remembers the film and its memories.
