When Nagarjuna slapped Isha Koppikar 14 times for a scene
Isha recalled that during the shoot of Chandralekha, she asked Nagarjuna to slap her for real in order to truly feel the emotion of anger. She said, “I got slapped by Nagarjuna. I was a fully committed actor that I want to perform in a real, method way. So when he was slapping me, I couldn’t feel it. This was my second film, so I told him, ‘Nag, you really slap me.’ He said, ‘Are you sure? No, I can’t.’ I said, ‘I want that feeling. I am not feeling it right now.’ So he slapped me, but softly.”
The actor went on to share how the director still couldn’t capture the anger in her expression, which led to multiple retakes: “In an attempt to look angry, I got slapped 14 times. At the end, I literally had slap marks on my face. Bechara mujhe leke baitha, bola sorry (Poor guy, he apologised to me). I said, ‘I asked for it, why are you saying sorry?’”
About Chandralekha
The film marked Isha’s debut as a lead actor in Telugu cinema. Directed by Krishna Vamsi, the comedy-drama also featured Nagarjuna, Ramya Krishnan, Murali Mohan, Chandra Mohan, Giri Babu, and Tanikella Bharani in key roles. It was a remake of the Malayalam film of the same name, originally directed by Priyadarshan.
Isha Koppikar’s recent work
Isha was last seen in the 2024 sci-fi film Ayalaan, alongside Sivakarthikeyan and Rakul Preet Singh. The film also starred Sharad Kelkar, Karunakaran, Yogi Babu, David Broughton-Davies, Bhanupriya, and Bala Saravanan. It received positive reviews from both critics and audiences, grossing ₹76.5 crore worldwide. Isha is yet to announce her next project.
