From donning the khaki to throwing punches and taking on goons, Sheena Chohan is all set to explore a side of herself audiences haven’t seen before. The actress plays the fearless IPS officer Anusha in director Shravan’s upcoming film Jatasya Maranam Dhruvam and it seems her years of martial arts and karate training have stood in good stead.
“It was the opportunity to play a character I had never explored before — an IPS officer, Anusha, who is the assistant to JD Chakravarthy’s senior officer. She is fiercely dedicated, commanding and has a very clear no-nonsense attitude, but what interested me most was the strength and ethics underneath that exterior. I’m a brown belt in martial arts and karate, and I’ve always wanted to bring that part of myself into a role in a meaningful way. So, this character offered me both the physical challenge of action and the deeper challenge of understanding what it means to carry the responsibility and moral authority of a police officer. I’m very drawn to characters that demand transformation from me, and Anusha gave me that opportunity.”
But for Sheena, Anusha’s toughness goes far beyond throwing a punch or commanding a room. Talking about her character, she says, “Anusha is fearless, but I didn’t want her fearlessness to be simply about being tough. For me, her real strength comes from her sense of duty and her willingness to stand her ground, even when the system around her makes that difficult. There is also a very human vulnerability to her. She is navigating patriarchy not only within the police station and society, but personally as well. That contradiction fascinated me, a woman who can be incredibly powerful in one moment and deeply human in another. I wanted the audience to see the woman inside the uniform, not just the uniform.”
To bring that authenticity to the screen, Sheena went beyond rehearsing fight sequences and underwent police-style training for the role. “For me, the preparation was as much about observation as it was about physical training. I spent time with and shadowed a real police officer from Versova, speaking to her about her life, her experiences and what had led her to choose the profession. Meeting real women police officers changed my perspective considerably. It taught me that the authenticity of a cop doesn’t come from looking tough; it comes from the small behavioural nuances, discipline, humanity and responsibility they carry every day.”
She adds, “Physically, I went back to my martial arts and fitness training, which helped enormously with the action. But the bigger challenge was carrying the gravity of the khaki uniform — making sure that even in an action sequence, I was carrying the authority and mindset of an officer rather than simply performing a stunt.”
So, what sets Anusha apart from the many cops audiences have seen on screen? Sheena believes it is her complexity. “I think what makes Anusha different is that her strength isn’t one-dimensional. She isn’t a stereotypically invincible cop who has no vulnerability. She is a woman fighting systemic patriarchy while simultaneously trying to uphold the very system she believes in.That gave me the opportunity to play her with layers — authority, fearlessness, vulnerability, ethics and deep humanity. I was far more interested in discovering those contradictions than in simply making her look like a ‘tough cop’. Hopefully, audiences will feel that there is a real woman behind every decision she makes.”
When it came to the action, Sheena was more than ready to get her hands dirty. Asked how involved she was in performing her own stunts, she says, “I was very involved. Having trained in martial arts and karate, I really wanted Anusha’s physicality to come from me rather than simply being created around me. Of course, we had an excellent action master, and everything was choreographed with safety in mind, but I performed as much of my own action as I could. Some of the sequences involving the Hyderabad goons, guns and chasing people were certainly not easy! There was plenty of running, fighting and reacting at speed, but honestly, I found it incredibly exciting. It felt fantastic to bring something I’ve trained in for years into the storytelling.”
And then there was the opportunity to share screen space with JD Chakravarthy, an experience Sheena describes as nothing short of extraordinary. “JD Chakravarthy brings so much history, instinct and intelligence to a scene. He also speaks about cinema constantly, so our conversations on set were often just as interesting as the work itself. What stayed with me most was something he told me towards the end of the shoot. He said it had been a pleasure working with me because of my dedication and commitment to understanding the character, researching her and finding my way into the role. Coming from an actor of his experience, that meant a great deal to me. For me, it was one of the most beautiful ways the journey of Anusha could have ended.”
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