‘Couple Friendly’: Manasa Varanasi says watching Sai Pallavi films shaped her role as Mithra

Actor Manasa Varanasi is receiving admiration for latest release ‘Couple Friendly’ starring alongside Santosh Soban. Her natural acting style, simple expressions and soft screen presence have helped her connect with the audience. Recently, she shared how the role was inspired by actress Sai Pallavi.Manasa Varanasi shared that the director of ‘Couple Friendly’, Ashwin Chandrasekar, told her to watch Sai Pallavi movies. While speaking with Gulte, "Director Ashwin told me to watch many Sai Pallavi movies as he is a fan of her work. He wanted me to take inspiration from Sai Pallavi. Therefore, he asked me to watch any film starring her," she said.Talking about the film, it follows Mithra and Shiva, where Shiva plays an interior designer from Nellore who reaches Chennai with big dreams. However, his life flips after he is forced to work as a bike-taxi driver. There, he meets Mithra, an IT graduate searching desperately for a job. Life starts getting better, but one unexpected event changes everything.About the film’s performance at the box office, as per a report by trade analyst Sacnilk, it earned an estimated Rs 4.86 crore in India net in its first week.Speaking about Manasa Varanasi, she made her debut in the 2024 film ‘Devaki Nandana Vasudeva’. This marks her second project.The movie also stars Yogi Babu, Rajeev Kanakala, and Livingston in important roles. As noted in the ETimes review, “the narrative takes a sharp turn in the second half when Mithra is diagnosed with a terminal illness. While this twist aims to intensify the emotional depth, the treatment veers into melodrama, at times resembling the overly sentimental tone. The pacing dips noticeably, and the family drama surrounding her condition unfolds in a predictable, formulaic manner. What started as a refreshing slice-of-life romance slowly drifts into familiar and conventional territory, losing much of its earlier charm.”On the other hand, Sai Pallavi will be seen in the upcoming Hindi film, ‘Ek Din’, starring opposite Junaid Khan and will also be seen in ‘Ramayana’ as Goddess Sita.