Actor Samyuktha Viswanathan has been busy, particularly since her breakout appearance in composer Sai Abhyankkar’s indie hit ‘Katchi Sera’ in 2024. When we catch her, the actor, who is juggling many projects, like I Am Game and Mr Bhaarath, is gearing up for a dubbing session for her upcoming release, Double Occupancy. “They say, ‘when it rains, it pours.’ The last few weeks have been a lot of overworking, doing multiple things at once. I’m excited, but I am also trying to give my best to each of the things that I need to do,” says Samyuktha.

Despite her busy schedule, the actor has been able to catch up on her reading — her Instagram bio as says she is currently reading ‘The Boyfriend’ by Freida McFadden. “I used to read a lot; like I used to read one book in two, three days. And it’s been a while since I got really into books again. And this one actually got me hooked.” Like the case with her films, Samyuktha also likes juggling multiple books at the same time. “I read three books at a time — one fiction, one non-fiction, and there’s one super light book for fun. I keep switching between the three depending on my mood.” She particularly suggests media personality Paris Hilton’s autobiography, ‘Paris: The Memoir.’ “Everyone thinks of her as this party girl, but she is so much more. The book changed my perspective on her and told readers not to judge a book by its cover. It also speaks a lot about ADHD, which I relate to.”

Samyuktha made her acting debut in the 2021 romance drama Oh Manapenne and subsequently starred in quite a few web series. However, it was ‘Katchi Sera’ that catapulted her to fame. The music video now has over 260 million views on YouTube. “We knew the song would be a hit, but neither Sai (Abhyankkar) nor I expected it to blow up like that..” Though she was elated by all the love that came her way, it also drew a lot of negativity online. “ As I was already in the industry and had seen my share of trolling, I thought I would be ready to manage it, but I was not. The ones that affected me the most were the ones that said, ‘She popped out of nowhere,’ ‘Does she really deserve this fame because she did just one song,’ all without knowing the journey behind it. I let those comments affect me more than they should, but again, I am human.” The actor learned not to take things personally. She understood that, unlike before, people need not necessarily be in a movie or series to get famous; even a music video can do that.

It indeed does seem like many spaces have opened to young women, at least much more than what the previous generation of female actors were exposed to. But are we picking out exceptions, or has there been a genuine shift? “ I definitely think there’s a lot more entry points because only a type of woman could enter the industry once; they had to look a certain way, have a certain skin colour and so on. That has changed.” She cites the example of her Prime Video series, Suzhal: The Vortex Season 2, which featured a diverse set of young women. “We’re so different from each other, but there’s a place for all of us.” But she agrees that the change has been slow. “If you look, in general, at the heroes and the heroines of our industry, there’s a pattern to how the heroines look.”

Young actors, especially women, of the current generation also face enormous pressure to ‘stay relevant’, be it through their social media presence or their craft. Samyuktha, however, doesn’t believe in maintaining relevance through social media statistics. “That shouldn’t affect acting or your acting opportunities. You might need those numbers (followers and reach) if you are looking for someone to do advertisements or endorsements. But it’s not like if your film doesn’t have someone with millions of followers, then your movie is not going to bring audiences to the theatres.” That said, she looks at it as one of those things in any job that you don’t like, but you have to do. Her Instagram profile, Samyuktha hopes, would be something “more than just pictures and reels and something that isn’t too personal like a diary,” a balance she agrees she hasn’t yet reached. “The biggest thing I’m constantly trying to achieve is to be as authentic as I can. I don’t wish to be seen as an influencer or a content creator because that is its own thing. It’s so much work.”

Samyuktha is also one of those young actors whose filmography largely features streaming projects. As expected, she has heard the pundits say that only theatre releases could boost an actor’s profile. “When I came into the industry, I did it purely from a blinding passion and optimism that I would somehow make it. Nobody in my family or extended family have anything to do with the film industry. So for someone like that, if creators I really love and respect or a good production house or a good streaming platform comes up with something I love, the thought of saying no just seems absurd. Why would I not grab a really good opportunity in front of me?” She also follows her gut instincts, something that she says helped her land Suzhal. “So I don’t believe it’s one or the other (theatres and streaming); they affect each other, but there’s a way to work around it.” She adds that being choosy is extremely important in today’s world, where people get saturated easily. “10 or 20 years ago, you had a list of heroines we saw repetitively. It’s no longer like that. Now, everybody needs something fresh, something new. And it’s better to be choosy than to get saturated.”

In Double Occupancy, directed by Aswin Kandasamy, Samyuktha plays Priya. The actor says there hasn’t been a female character written as layered as Priya is. “It’s easy for females to be put in a box or a type, like ‘bubbly’ or ‘serious’ or ‘shy’ and so on. In reality, however, women are more nuanced and layered. What you see on the outside is not always the person on the inside. And I think this character made me feel that. She felt like a real person who would exist in this world.” From the title promo, Double Occupancy seems to be a fantasy drama that follows a character, Rajini, who switches their gender depending on the time of day. Samyutha calls it a story about how a set of characters go through something extraordinary in an ordinary world. “It’s like a genre bender; there’s fantasy, there’s romance, comedy, drama, and action. But at the end of the day, the story is about human emotions.”

Up next, Samyuktha will be seen sharing the screen with Malayalam star Dulquer Salmaan inI Am Game. “It’s been a fun experience. Dulquer is fun to talk to, and he’s very intelligent. If you start talking to him about any topic, he has something to say about it.” She also has Mr Bhaarath, produced by Lokesh Kanagaraj, a comedy film that she says the team went through painstaking trouble to crack right. “That’s going to be one of those films where you can just sit there, enjoy and laugh with your family. It will be a breath of fresh air.” Her line-up also includesTexas Tiger, co-starring Hridhu Haroon, and Romcom, produced by Annapurna Studios and Chai Bisket Films and co-starring Hanu Reddy. “And besides that, I also did an experimental film that I have been travelling with for over four years. We are trying to get it to festivals. It’s a film that required a lot of belief, and you need someone willing to take risks and invest in that film. It’s going to be very special and new,” she signs off.