Chennai, Jan 18 (IANS): Debutante Mehreen, who is paired with actor Nani in upcoming Telugu romantic-comedy "Krishna Gaadi Veera Prema Gaadha", says it was his motivation and support that helped her perform better.
"On the first day on the sets, I barely knew anything about him. We hadn't met before and I decided to just go with the flow and follow my director's lead. However, Nani being much more experienced, made me very comfortable and actually helped take my acting a notch higher," Mehreen told IANS.
"He was extremely helpful and we share a nice chemistry in the film. I feel blessed to have worked with him. I learnt how to improvise on the spot from Nani, with whom working was just amazing," she said.
Before joining the film's set, Mehreen had watched Nani's "Yevade Subramanyam".
"While shooting, he had mentioned about 'Makkhi', and I watched it. I was completely blown away by the film. When I watched his last release 'Bhale Bhale Magadivoy', it helped me to relate to him much more easily," said Mehreen, who is born Punjabi, studied in Delhi and spent the past few years of her life in New York and Toronto.
The film is directed by Hanu Raghavapudi, and working with him was enlightening for the young actress.
"Though most directors have a vision, I think Hanu never deviates from it. If he has imagined a certain scene, he would not stop until he gets it the way he wanted it. I liked how professional he was even during auditions," she said.
"I've heard from people that most actresses are chosen just by their looks, but Hanu spent a lot of time with me while auditioning. It was two days of a rigorous selection process," she recalled.
In the film, she plays a character called Mahalakshmi, who will mostly be seen in half saris.
"I loved the way I was styled; mostly in bright colours. I enjoyed wearing half saris, although I've never worn them before. But since I've worn a lehenga; I didn't find it difficult to wear half saris," said Mehreen, who plays a character from a village in Anantpur.
While she awaits the release of "Krishna Gaadi Veera Prema Gaadha", she has already signed two more projects in Telugu and one in Tamil.