It’s been a particularly exciting time for Kannada actors Milana Nagaraj and Krishna, both professionally and personally. The duo, whose film Love Mocktail opened to great reviews from critics and audiences alike, also announced that they’re a couple and that they have been together for over five years now.
The actors, who are soaking in the appreciation that they’ve been garnering for their latest film, speak to TNM about the response to their movie, being a real life couple and more.
Krishna, popularly known as Darling Krishna, has directed Love Mocktail, a romantic drama in which he also plays the lead. The actor-director performs the role of Adi, a middle-aged software employee who rescues a woman from the coastal region of Karnataka, and ends up talking about his life to her. The film then narrates Adi’s different love stories over the years.
“Adi’s character is similar to mine and Milana’s character Nidhi is similar to her real self. That’s why the Adi-Nidhi chemistry works. I play someone who’s a love seeker and prefers being in a relationship,” says Krishna, who was expecting the huge response that the film has received. “But the response came in a little late, in the second week. I was confident about the script. Initially, we just had one theatre in Karnataka and then we requested one show in two malls, but because there were already 10-12 other releases, they took off our film. But then, we were given 10 shows later and all of them turned out to be houseful, even on weekdays.”
Milana, on the other hand, plays a down-to-earth character called Nidhi who enjoys the simple things in life. The actor, who expected the coming-of-age love story to do well, says that she’s overwhelmed by the response it has received. “We made sure there was no vulgarity in the film and did everything from scratch, sat for the screenplay and auditioned for the characters. Krishna was looking after the production too. He’s someone who has a lot of clarity in both his professional and personal life. When we are on the set, he doesn’t waste even a single minute and is very disciplined,” she says.
The couple disclosed their relationship status during the second week of their film’s release. How did the audiences and people around them react to their announcement?
“People around me have known about it for more than five-and-a-half years, but when fans and audiences found out, it was even more special for them. A lot of fan clubs have opened, dedicated to us!” reveals Krishna, who says that he and Milana always wanted to do a good film together but that it took five years for them to get it right.
While both their families knew about their relationship, Krishna wanted to make the official announcement after the duo delivered a hit. “Some media and film industry members already knew about it. As for audiences, they were really happy as we play a couple in the film too. We’d never spoken about our personal lives, not even on social media. Krishna proposed marriage long back, which came as a shocker to me! We took time to get to know each other as we weren’t even good friends when he proposed. We’ve spent our five years together watching and discussing films.”
Now that the two of them have a hit behind them, Krishna reveals that he has a lot of pressure and expectations to deal with as a director. “Before I did Love Mocktail, nobody cared about what I was doing. But now, things are different. I’m working on selecting the right genre first. I don’t discuss my projects with anyone except Milana. I have a special script for her, a woman-centric one, but it will take some time to unfold. People want to see us together again, so I’m thinking of creating another love story, but it’s not easy to create another film like that,” smiles the actor-director who played the role of Aadi in his latest film.
As for Milana, she’s working on two projects which will be announced soon. “Sudeep sir watched our film and told me that I have potential. He asked me to do good content where I also have a strong character to portray. Right now, I have a horror film, which was shot last year, up for release. I will take up a project only if it’s really good, I won’t do films just for the sake of doing them,” says the actor, adding, “Love Mocktail has taken a lot from Krishna and I, so our next project will take some time. We’ve to be cautious before we finalise the genre and script.”