Saiee M Manjrekar dedicated a chunk of 2025 to the shoot of the Telugu film, The India House, produced by Ram Charan. While she was drawn to the love story, the bigger incentive for the actor was to star in a drama set in India’s pre-independence era. Having wrapped up the Ram Vamsi Krishna-directed venture mid-2025, Manjrekar now believes period dramas are much more demanding than regular feature films. 

“A period drama demands a lot more than just learning lines and showing up on set. There is so much homework involved — reading, researching, understanding how people lived, spoke, and carried themselves back then. Everything is rooted in a certain discipline and grace, different from today’s world,” said the actor.

According to her, being part of the Anupam Kher and Nikhil Siddhartha-starrer taught her to embrace a character far removed from her, thus helping her hone her craft. “You have to unlearn many habits, and consciously build a new physical and emotional vocabulary. It’s demanding, but that’s what makes it so fulfilling.”