Ashok Selvan on Testing COVID Positive After Kissing Scene With Samyuktha

Ashok Selvan and Smruthi Venkat on wanting to experiment with every genre.

Manmatha Leelai Poster

Photo courtesy: Twitter

The much-anticipated ‘adult comedy’ Manmatha Leelai, starring Ashok Selvan, Samyuktha Hegde, Riya Suman and Smruthi Venkat is all set to release on 1 April. The film is the first step in director Venkat Prabhu's dream to bring American Pie to Kollywood.

In an interview to The Quint, the lead cast, Ashok Selvan and Smruthi Venkat, share their experiences working with the director, performing in intimate scenes, especially amidst the COVID times and their willingness to experiment with every kind of genre.

"I have experimented with something like a slapstick comedy. I am a huge fan of Buster Keaton and Jim Carrey. So I wanted to try something like that. This film gave me a stage to do it".

Ashok Selvan, Actor

Smruthi Venkat said she plays the role of an innocent wife in the film. Smruthi, who was recently seen in Dhanush’s Maaran and had also starred in RJ Balaji’s Mookuthi Amman, spoke about choosing interesting characters which she can experiment with.

"I really want to be known as a good performer rather than just a heroine. Of course, I want to play a heroine, I always want to do that. But at the same time not just someone who comes and goes, someone who can actually perform".

Smruthi Venkat, Actress

Speaking about the diversity of roles in his films, Ashok Selvan says he likes to surprise the audience with each movie he stars in. Opening up about testing positive for COVID after a kissing scene with Samyuktha, Ashok said he was unaware of it during the shoot.

Ashok also revealed a pickup line that has always worked for him.

Watch the video for more.