"I never had stage fear—I was born to face the camera!"
Q. You started your acting career at the age of three. Can you share some memories from your early days in the industry and how they shaped your passion for acting?
I started out as a child model for Quality Biscuits at the age of 2 1/2, and that was when I faced the camera for the first time. My second brother, Murali, also acted in that along with me. Actually, we both acted together, so it was about a brother and sister going to school and taking these biscuits as a snack or something like that. I do remember the shoot, how it happened, and the entire process.
Even though 2 ½ years is too young an age to remember things, I still recall quite a few things about that shoot. After that, the one thing that I can say is that I never had this fear of the camera, or what you call stage fear. I was very comfortable—absolutely no fear of any sort. If I was told something, I would just do it without any hesitation. So, throughout, that’s how it has been.
After that ad, I immediately got an offer to act in a movie called Khiladi Kittu as a child actor—the leading lady’s younger version. So that’s how it went. All the movies and ads that I have done have actually played a very big role in shaping my career. I can say, one, it made me comfortable. Also, it kind of
laid out the platform too. Maybe it was destiny that laid out the platform for what was coming in the future.
It kind of exposed me, you know, because even till now, I continue to do advertisements. So, in a way, I was able to differentiate—I mean, without losing integrity, I was able to differentiate the main difference between an ad and a movie. All those things, I think, really helped me a lot without me realizing it at that young age.
I also had the opportunity to work with some of the big directors of the Kannada movie industry. So, I would say I was really privileged. The main factor here is that I got an opportunity to work with the great director of Kannada cinema—actually, we can even say Indian cinema—Puttanna Kanagal. I played a small role in Ranganayaki, which is like a milestone movie in a career.
It is one of the landmark movies in Kannada cinema. I got an opportunity to work under him, even though I was way too young to understand his greatness. He was a magician, I mean, he was a flag bearer. I think the majority of his movies were very strong women-oriented films. I got an opportunity to work under him, even though it was for a very short period and a very small role.
I never realized it then, but somewhere, I feel his blessings. After the shoot was done, he was telling his associate, "You know what? You should have gotten this kid for some other movie, for a bigger role. This kid has a lot of potential, and we should have gotten her for a better role." But at that point in time, I didn’t realize it. Today, I feel so blessed that, despite being totally unaware, I still got to work under him and receive his blessings.
I do remember shooting for that movie, interacting with him, and Everything. Along with that, I was also doing a lot of stage shows in a different way. I used to perform for Prabhat Kalavidaru, who were known for their dance and drama shows. So, I even got a taste of how performing on stage feels, even though it was not dialogue-oriented. Honestly, when you talk about passion, it was not my passion or anything.
Because of that, it is very difficult to come to any conclusion and say that I was passionate from my childhood. No, I don’t think so. It was just that, whatever was told to me, I was a very obedient child, so I would do whatever was told to me. That’s about it.
The only thing that probably helped me was that the entire experience—whether it was the movie making process, being in front of the camera, or the industry itself—didn’t make me feel like an outsider. It was
comfortable. It was just like home away from home. That’s all I can say.
So, that probably really helped me. That exposure in my childhood kind of opened up things for me and made it easy for me to be comfortable and not be conscious about anything while performing. That was the main thing.
Q. Among the diverse characters you've portrayed, which role has been the most challenging, and why?
Yes, I have played a very wide variety of roles, being launched as a college-going girl and from there to a housewife, a daughter—you name it. I have been very lucky that the majority of the roles I have portrayed have been women-oriented movies or author-backed roles, I can say so. It got me, you know, actually, like, I got to play such strong women who are amongst us in society.
And many times, We never pay attention to that, and we never pay attention to the kind of struggles they would have faced, the kind of hardships they would have beaten and come out victorious. So, those kinds of roles I got to play—I mean, from a glamour doll to a de-glamorous role to a protagonist in a very positive way, you know—from an IAS officer to a homemaker, from a blind person to a physically challenged person.
Even in those aspects, I was really lucky that I could play a wide range because, you know, each role, knowingly or unknowingly, keeps giving you a lot of strength. It keeps strengthening you throughout your journey. You never realize.
It’s like, you know, a give-and-take kind of a barter policy. You see so many things happen in society, and as an actor, you have to learn to observe, you know, keep observing things around you—the people around you, the happenings around you. So that, somewhere, kind of helps in your career, in your acting profession, and in that way, the characters that you portray actually help you as an individual, as a person in your real life.
That is what I have experienced. I think all the strong characters that I have played till now, without me even being aware of it, have given me a lot of strength. And I can say, you know, being mentally strong is a very, very important aspect of anybody’s life.
So, all those roles have given me a lot of mental courage, and I mean, in my personal life or professional life, of course, there will be ups and downs. But these roles have given me the courage and pushed me and helped me to be, you know, a person who takes things as they come, learns to accept things, learns to accept situations, and, you know, faces those hardships and does not give up on life. And say, "It’s okay. You know what?
Tomorrow might be a better day. Today is not my day, but tomorrow might be better than today." And, you know, always, as much as possible, try to be positive.
So, I think all these—whatever you learn as a child, or as principles from your parents, from your family, from your schooling—along with that, these roles reinforce those values. A lot of the hidden courage or strength helped me discover the person that I was or the real person that I was. The majority of my growing years—not majority, I can say all my growing-up years—I have been in the industry, in front of the camera.
So, somewhere, I guess, I never really got to explore the real me. But when I faced a few challenges in my life, especially in my personal life or, to an extent, in my professional life, I think it was these characters, you know, somewhere, they came out and told me, "You know what? This is not you. This is not how you should be doing things, or how you should feel, or how you should go about it.
This is the way you should do it. This is the kind of person you are. Come on, get up, shrug it off, and move ahead".
So, it would be really difficult for me to place my finger on one particular character and say, "Yes, this role shaped me." I think it’s like a bouquet of flowers—each one, each role, a different color, a different shade, a different person—and that really helped me a lot.
So, I should honestly thank my producers and directors for writing such wonderful roles, such strong women-oriented characters. Not only did they send out a good message to society, but they really helped me also.
Q. As someone who has portrayed a wide range of characters, how do you approach the process of getting into the mindset of a role, especially one that is vastly different from your own personality?
I am a very spontaneous actor. I am not this methodical type of actor—that is mainly because, of course, when I was a child actor, not much preparation from my side went into it, nor was there any pressure from the director’s side either. All they would say is, "Just, you know, come like this, say like this, and go back like this." So it was very easy going. But of course, also, ads—I think that was also a huge difference in my life.
Because when you’re doing an ad, you have to be spontaneous. You can’t be plastic. You can’t be, you know, fake, right? You have to look natural, and you have to be very spontaneous. Your smile—everything has to be fresh because it’s going to last 20 to 30 seconds, and you have to tell an entire story in that duration. So you have to be really, you know, glowing, sparkling from inside—your eyes should be bright, and your smile, everything.
So that kind of set the tone. And my first director—I mean, I would really be short of words to thank him for all the suggestions and advice that he gave me, the way he molded me. Singeetham Srinivasa Rao always insisted on being spontaneous. That was his, what do you say, motto or whatever—I don’t know—the criteria for an actor.
I’m sure you know, or probably because we were newcomers, that being the first movie, Anand being the first movie, he insisted that, you know, we have to be natural and spontaneous.
You know, he would even say, "Don’t keep your smile in the song. You know, even before the camera rolls, like when they say ‘Start, sound,’ don’t start smiling from then. When you hear ‘Start, camera,’ those last words, then you smile, because your smile will look natural. It won’t look plastic."
So I would say the entire credit goes to him. And also, he was very particular about us not mugging up our lines. He would say, "You know the language, right? You’re basically a Kannadiga. You know it’s your mother tongue. You know the language, and you know what it means." And if we said we didn’t know, he would explain.
He would say, "Find out. Find out what has happened before the scene, the scene that we would be doing, and what is going to happen next."
So he would always insist, "Don’t mug up your lines. Just understand, get the gist of it. And because this is your mother tongue, to a large extent, you will speak correctly. If there’s any mistake, definitely, I will correct you."
So that actually became the benchmark for me, and to this day, I follow the same thing. I have never done any research or any sort of, you know, homework on the roles that I have done. And also, I believe each director is different, and I want to portray the role the way the director visualizes it because I don’t want it to be my way of thinking.
Because my perspective might be different, but the director knows what that character should be, how the other characters in the movie are, and what exactly he wants to say in the movie. So I firmly believe that I should just go by what the director wants because he’s the one who knows everything from A to Z.
That is the main reason I never do any homework unless they send me some material and tell me, "Just go through this, please read through this, or just see this, check this." That’s the only time I would do it.
I always go on the set completely blank and follow what the director says. Any corrections—I tell them, "If you want it to be a little heavier, please let me know. Or if you want the rendition of the dialogues to be in a different way—slow, fast, medium—everything." So I just go by the director’s advice. That’s how I approach a role.
Q. Filmmaking is often a collaborative art form. Can you share an experience where teamwork on set significantly enhanced the final outcome of a film or scene?
Yes, I firmly believe it’s a collaborative effort, and never ever can we say that it is because of one person that the movie was a success. Each and everybody matters, from the biggest of the biggest people to the smallest person working on this—I mean, in order of their work category.
Without that, you know, it’s impossible. It’s teamwork, and I think it would be really difficult for me to say which really kind of, you know, made a change or helped in the process of movie-making because there are way too many movies, and right now, offhand, I’m not able to recollect like that.
But there have been many cases where, you know, even the smallest suggestion coming from, let us say, a production assistant or even a makeup artist has definitely made a change. So I completely believe that it’s teamwork, and no contribution is any less.
So yes, it’s teamwork.
Q. Over the years, the storytelling styles and narratives in cinema have changed drastically. How do you adapt your performance to resonate with the changing tastes and expectations of modern audiences?
Yes, movie-making has totally changed today. I think we have made tremendous improvements when it comes to technology and the kind of grandeur and things like that. But I personally feel—this is just my personal opinion—that of late, you know, a lot of things happen on the set. I mean, you know, like sometimes, this is in general that I’m talking about. I’m not saying that everyone does that.
More than the homework—like, you know, earlier, they would pay a lot of attention during the scripting stages. The minutest details would be thought about and worked out and everything, and when we would go on the sets, there would be no major changes except for a few small things here and there.
But now, what happens is, you know, like, we go on the set, we shoot certain things endlessly—especially, you know, some of the shots are taken from multiple angles—and then they see which is good and retain that shot.
But as an actor, and especially as an actor who believes in being spontaneous, I find that to be a little draining because every time, you cannot keep up the same pace. I mean, you cannot keep up that spontaneity. You cannot keep up the same energy—the way you have delivered the dialogues or the way you would have done some actions or movements and things like that.
It will be difficult to match, I mean, to keep up the same speed or, you know, that kind of momentum.
So that is one thing, but unfortunately, that’s how movie-making is being done now. So sometimes, I do request—if there is a very important scene or a very emotional kind of scene—I do ask the director, you know, "Is there any way we can be sure of not going for such multiple angles?" But sometimes, you know, if they insist, there is nothing much that I can do about it, and I do have to go with the flow.
Apart from that—again, this is my personal opinion—I feel somewhere, you know, that emotional connection is gone because, as humans, we thrive on emotions, right? I feel now, somewhere, the movies are losing that emotional quotient. You know, for the audience, we are not the type of characters that we are playing. I mean, the characters in the movies are not something that you can identify with.
Earlier, when we would watch a movie, we could see one particular character and say, "You know what? I know someone like this. Oh, my dad is like this, or my brother, or my friend," or, "You know, certain characteristics—I have them in me, like what this character is saying or doing or having."
So I feel somewhere that emotional connectivity is not there because now everything is larger than life, and you know, it’s all like total fantasy, total dream world.
More than the homework—like, you know, earlier, they would pay a lot of attention during the scripting stages. The minutest details would be thought about and worked out and everything, and when we would go on the sets, there would be no major changes except for a few small things here and there.
But now, what happens is, you know, like, we go on the set, we shoot certain things endlessly—especially, you know, some of the shots are taken from multiple angles—and then they see which is good and retain that shot.
But as an actor, and especially as an actor who believes in being spontaneous, I find that to be a little draining because every time, you cannot keep up the same pace. I mean, you cannot keep up that spontaneity.
You cannot keep up the same energy—the way you have delivered the dialogues or the way you would have done some actions or movements and things like that. It will be difficult to match, I mean, to keep up the same speed or, you know, that kind of momentum.
So that is one thing, but unfortunately, that’s how movie-making is being done now. So sometimes, I do request—if there is a very important scene or a very emotional kind of scene—I do ask the director, you know, "Is there any way we can be sure of not going for such multiple angles?" But sometimes, you know, if they insist, there is nothing much that I can do about it, and I do have to go with the flow.
Apart from that—again, this is my personal opinion—I feel somewhere, you know, that emotional connect is gone because, as humans, we thrive on emotions, right? I feel now, somewhere, the movies are losing that emotional quotient. You know, for the audience, we are not the type of characters that we are playing. I mean, the characters in the movies are not something that you can identify with.
Earlier, when we would watch a movie, we could see one particular character and say, "You know what? I know someone like this. Oh, my dad is like this, or my brother, or my friend," or, "You know, certain characteristics—I have them in me, like what this character is saying or doing or having."
So I feel somewhere that emotional connectivity is not there because now everything is larger than life, and you know, it’s all like total fantasy, total dream world.
Maybe they’re not the kind of movies that are my type, but that’s how it has become. This, again, like I said, is my personal opinion. Apart from this, also, you know, earlier, when we would shoot for a movie, because we would be working together for a couple of months, we used to bond well—each and every one, whether it was the actors or the technicians—we would bond with each other very well.
And I think that kind of very healthy competition, healthy relationship, and bonding was visible on the screen. You could see the rapport on the screen also. But now, we are all kind of, you know, distanced from each other. Well, that’s the style now, but it would be really nice if things could go back to that age. It would be really nice.
Q. You believe in using only organic and cruelty-free products. What motivated this choice, and how do you incorporate this philosophy into your lifestyle?
I think our generation is like, you know, my grandparents, my parents, and all of us in our family. We are all pet lovers, and we love nature and things like that. So, I guess that was the main reason.
And also, to be honest, after my daughter was born, when she was hardly about, you know, a couple of months old, one of my cousins, who is a cardiologist—one day we happened to meet at the airport, and we were waiting for a plane and talking. That’s when he told me about, you know, the chemicals that are added into shampoo—any shampoo for that matter.
He was telling me, you know, about the kind of chemicals and how they actually break the skin barrier and enter the body because, you know, they get absorbed into the skin and slowly circulate, the kind of damage they do, and the harm they can cause. And especially in girls, we see this precocious puberty, with girls as young as 8 or 9 hitting puberty and things like that.
He was talking at length about these matters, and he suggested that, you know, I should make sure that I don’t use certain products on my daughter. That was when it got me thinking, and I started looking up, like, you know, all those chemicals he mentioned—what they were and what kind of damage they do.
It was so shocking. I saw videos of how these products are tested on poor animals, whether it’s rabbits, monkeys, dogs, and, you know, whatnot. And to source the raw material for them, how many other animals and creatures—which are so very important for our ecological balance—are killed or tortured to undergo all the testing!
That was when I decided, no, enough is enough. Just imagine—why should I look beautiful at the cost of another being’s life? I mean, is it really worth hurting someone just because it cannot retaliate and talk back?
So, after I started researching shampoo, one thing led to another, and I kind of saw the entire game of the cosmetic industry, you know, and it was so scary. That was when I felt—do we really have to torture some poor animals to beautify ourselves? And it’s not just that—imagine the amount of chemicals that we are dumping on our bodies, which have no way of getting out of our system.
You know, everything is absorbed into the body—the kind of reactions it’ll have. And also, on the whole, when you look at the damage that it is causing to our environment—I mean, it is really shocking. That made me change my decision about using cruelty-free products. I make a very conscious effort to buy only cruelty-free products.
I try to use more Ayurveda from reputed brands so that, you know, I am sure there are no chemicals or, mainly, that it has not been tested on animals. Like, you know, I check whether it’s PETA-certified or has the bunny image on it—those kinds of things.
Also, I have made a conscious decision to avoid plastics at home, so it’s more of our good old copper vessels, steel, and ceramic chinaware. So, yeah, I’m trying to incorporate and try to buy very, very few
silk sarees—more of cotton—and as much as possible, try to avoid all things that are not good for us, choosing products that are environmentally and human-friendly in all aspects of life.
Q. As a homemaker and a professional actress, how do you manage to balance your personal and professional life effectively?
In this profession, especially when you are an actor—a lady actor—there is no such thing called balance. I mean, each day, each moment is so dynamic in this field that, you know, we should probably just use the word balance to kind of convince ourselves. There is no such thing as balance.
You’ll have to go as the day unfolds or as the day goes. Sometimes you will expect that, you know, or you’ll be told that you’ll be done at a certain time. Or they’ll say, "No, your work is canceled," or they might say, "No, we want a date," so it’s like, you know, they tell you, and you have to be ready. You have to be constantly on your feet.
And when you’re a public figure, there are a lot of expectations of you. People would have seen you as a character, and that is what they like. They like the character that they’ve seen on screen—they really don’t know the real person that you are or your personality. Of course, now with social media and everything, things are changing—sometimes for the good, sometimes for the bad.
So people have a certain image of you or a certain opinion about you, and they expect that, you know, you’ll be like that. But when they get to see the real you, sometimes they’ll be shocked, they’ll be surprised. They will say things like, "How come you’re like this?" or "How come you dress like this?"
So, like I said, there is no balance—you have to go with the flow. Sometimes you’ll be able to follow your routine. Sometimes you’ll not be able to follow your routine. Of course, it can be frustrating, but you have to prioritize.
There will be times when, you know, you will have to decide whether you want to give up a project because there’s something happening on your personal front that needs more attention. Or sometimes you’re ready to sacrifice some of your personal things to focus on your career. So, the word balance doesn’t arise—at least, that’s what my opinion is.
It is just that you manage things. Sometimes, you know, you take the help of your family, your friends, or your house help to kind of push through because it is a very demanding job. So, you constantly need to be on your toes. All you can do is just manage.
Q. What advice would you give to young and aspiring actors who look up to you and wish to make a mark in the industry?
First and foremost, please understand this profession can be very taxing, whether mentally or physically, and you require a lot of patience, adjustments, and acceptance. Because, you know, of course, now the actors can say they are very lucky because of a lot of things that were not even heard of before.
In fact, I would say our seniors—my seniors—struggled even more. They really worked very hard. Compared to them, we were slightly better. Now, this generation of actors, they are, you know, provided with so much from day one. You know, they get a caravan, a vanity van, and so many other benefits.
Even when it comes to dubbing, in those days, it was the loop system, so we had to, like, you know, do it together. Now, for the past quite a few years, there has been this track system where, you know, you can just go at your own time and convenience for movies and come back.
So that way, a lot of things have changed, but certain core areas remain the same. One is that once you’re an established actor, there is a certain amount of responsibility towards your society. People expect you
to behave a certain way, and it’s also your responsibility because you influence so many others—you know, from the young to the old.
Cinema is one medium where, you know, you can really influence—whether it is good or bad. So you really need to be careful. And this field, this profession, requires a lot of patience. Sometimes we wait endlessly for hours together or days together. Sometimes you do so many retakes to get a perfect shot.
That way, you have to maintain yourself. Your mental health is of utmost importance because there’s so much pressure. And, you know, you have to maintain your weight, your looks—everything. How you go about everything, how you maintain your workload, or, you know, the kind of projects—if you’re doing multiple projects—how you maintain the dates, so many things are there.
So, if you’re ready for a lot of hard work, then consider it. Otherwise, please don’t, because, you know, there are so many talented people out there who are waiting for a good opportunity. And, you know, because Lady Luck shines upon us, we get a chance. So make use of it—make good use out of it.
You know, even while you’re selecting your projects, I know, of course, nowadays, you know, the back roles are very far and few in between. But even then, please, you know, pay attention to the kind of movies that you’re going to pick.
Because let us not—I mean, we have moved into the 21st century—let’s still not even now do movies where, you know, the heroine or the leading lady is just a glam doll. Just someone who comes in, you know, for a song and a couple of scenes, and that’s it.
A lot of positive change can be brought in because we have enough influence to bring positive change and send a good message to society. There is enough negativity happening around us, so I personally feel we should not contribute to that or add more to it.
So, yeah, these are the things I would like to say. Please choose your roles wisely, and if you’re ready to work hard, then please come.
And also, don’t use cinema as a stepping stone for other careers. Like, you know, a lot of people come here thinking that, you know, because their final goal—this is just an example—their final ambition is to do something in politics.
So, for the added popularity and things like that—that’s what I have noticed—a lot of people, this is just an example, not meaning anything else, a lot of people come into movies for that, just to become more popular.
So please don’t do that because, like I said earlier, there are a lot of talented people who are waiting for an opportunity. So it would be like, you know, we are taking away their chance.
Yeah, I hope I was able to answer all the questions in a rightful way. Thank you.
Interviewed by Shashank S
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