4 min readHyderabadMar 18, 2026 07:05 PM IST
Two years is a long time to hold onto a film. When Sreeleela first joined the sets of Ustaad Bhagat Singh in April 2023, she could not have known that the project would stretch well into 2025 before wrapping up. Shooting started, paused, and resumed while the world around her kept moving. Other offers came and went. She let some of them go, because she was already committed here.
Looking back, she says she does not regret staying with it. In an interaction with SCREEN, Sreeleela said, “What kept me invested was the character itself.” She calls it the most well-written role she has had since she started acting. In the movie, Sreeleela steps into the role of Leela, playing a spirited, playful young woman who enters Pawan Kalyan’s character’s life and brings a lightness to the film.
Her previous outings have led to mixed reviews with critics often noting that while she ‘danced well’, her character had little bearing on the story. This time, she says, felt different from the writing stage itself. Talking about her character, she explained, “I always wanted to be part of films where my character leaves a lasting impression on the audience. In this film, my character’s name is Leela, which made it extra special for me personally,”
One thing that made this shoot different from most was how Harish Shankar ran the set. She recounted, “I was never given any script or any material to prepare in advance, not the day before, not even a few hours ahead. Everything was handed to me on the spot. I would prepare on the day, on set, and go with it”. It was an unconventional way to work, she remarked, but she seems to have found something freeing in it.
Her track in the film is entirely separate from Raashii Khanna’s. The two female leads do not share any scenes, each occupying a distinct part of the narrative alongside Pawan Kalyan’s character. And yet, Sreeleela speaks about Raashii with genuine warmth. “While Raashii and I never met on the shooting sets, we have been meeting here and there, running into each other on multiple occasions. She’s my sweetheart, and might be the kindest person I have met since the beginning of my career.”
The two years also ran alongside one of the more personal chapters of her life. Sreeleela completed her MBBS from DY Patil School of Medicine in early 2026, a degree she had been quietly pursuing since 2020 while continuing to work in films. “It was very difficult to pursue my MBBS while working on the sets, film after film. I could not have done it without the people I worked with on screen. The production teams of my previous films adjusted shoot schedules around my exams, held back on last-minute changes during my exam periods, and gave me the breathing room I needed,”
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Now that she has the degree, she has made one thing clear about how she intends to carry it forward professionally: she will not be using the “Dr.” prefix in her film credits or during promotions. “That is something about my personal life, I do not want to mix personal and professional life together. When I’m on stage or on sets, I would like to be known as Sreeleela.” The degree was a promise she made to herself, not a branding exercise, and she wants to keep it that way.
But medicine is not something she plans to walk away from permanently either. She speaks about wanting to eventually set up a hospital and practice. “I see both cinema and medicine as forms of service to people, just through different means.”
