Pragya Jaiswal talks about working with Balakrishna twice, addresses age gap: ‘How does it matter?’

Pragya Jaiswal started the year off with a bang. She celebrated her birthday on January 12, the same day her recent film Daaku Maharaaj was released. It became a force to be reckoned with despite competition from Game Changer and Sankranthiki Vasthunam. Talking to Hindustan Times, the actor reflects on her role, working with Nandamuri Balakrishna for the second time, the age gap between them, her upcoming work, and more. (Also Read: SS Rajamouli writes ‘7 Padma Awards for Telugu people this time’ in new post, internet says ‘sab Indian hain')

Kicking off the year with a bang

Pragya is clearly still high off the success of Daaku Maharaaj, which earned over ₹120 crore worldwide, according to Sacnilk, when she talks to us. “I feel the year started off with a bang for me, and I couldn’t have asked for more. Daaku Maharaaj was a Sankranthi release that coincided with my birthday, and since then, I’ve been enjoying the love pouring in for the film, especially for my role as Kaveri,” she says.

Pragya plays an engineer-turned-daaku in the film, and she says it was unlike anything she had ever done before. “No one imagined me as a daaku, and now people are calling me daaku maharaani,” she says with glee, adding, “She’s so accomplished, de-glam, hair tied up…it was a different ball game to play Kaveri. She’s so different from anything I’ve ever done before that I was worried when the film was released about how people would receive it. I’m relieved now; I feel satisfied that I made the right call.”

I ask her what specifically about her role made her say yes, and she elaborates. “Playing a pregnant character who also does action was something completely new for me. I’ve obviously never been a mother, so to imagine what that would be like felt powerful,” says Pragya, adding, “There’s a point in the film where Kaveri has to protect her unborn child yet fight for a cause. She’s fierce and selfless, it speaks to the strength of women in general, and I loved bringing that to life.”

Working with Balakrishna twice

If Pragya’s Kaveri is the daaku maharaani, Balakrishna’s Sitaram is the titular Daaku Maharaaj of this tale. This is the actors’ second outing together after Boyapati Srinu’s 2021 hit Akhanda. ‘Pure joy’ and ‘positivity’ are the first words Pragya uses when I bring up Balakrishna’s name. “There’s so much to learn from a legend like him who can switch on and off effortlessly between takes. He has no filters, is respectful, makes everyone feel equal and is overall such a nice person. He’s very collaborative as a co-star,” she says.

However, the fact remains that Balakrishna is almost three decades older than Pragya. Ask her about the general growing age gap between male stars and their female leads and she will mince no words. “I actually feel like casting is done based on how a role is written and if you can do it justice…if it looks good on-screen. So, how does the age gap matter? When shooting for Akhanda, of course, we wondered what it would look like. But it was shot so well, as long as the audience believes they’re husband and wife, as long as justice is done to the story and role, I feel there’s nothing to talk about,” she says.

Pragya’s upcoming work

Pragya had an interesting 2024, too – she debuted in Bollywood with Khel Khel Mein. 2014’s Titoo MBA was technically a Punjabi film, she points out. “I think Khel Khel Mein was the best kind of debut I could’ve asked for in Hindi. It was such a fun film, I enjoyed playing a character with an equal role among such good actors (Akshay Kumar, Taapsee Pannu, etc). I feel like the love I’ve been getting from the audience for it grows with each passing day,” she says.

As for what’s next, Pragya would love to work with everyone from Allu Arjun and Mahesh Babu to Salman Khan and Ranbir Kapoor. “But for now, I just want to be part of good stories and play rewarding characters while entertaining the audience. I have a couple of projects I can’t speak about yet, but I have Tyson Naidu in Telugu, which I look forward to,” she rounds off.