She had to let go of a quixotic life — full of books and calculators — before she immersed herself into the glitzy and glamorous industry of stardom. No doubt that it was a long and stressful journey but South Indian actress Namratha Hegde is more than just excited. She will soon make her debut in direction and it is a dream come true. After all, she has been nourishing the goal of working behind the screen ever since she was a five-year-old and she savours small doses of happiness, each day, when she sees all her dreams come together.
Namratha completed her Masters in Business Administration from Ohio since her parents wanted her to have a strong foundation in education. However, the parallel second life that she was living while growing up was not a secret to her family and friends and they were equally supportive when she decided to go against the grain and venture into films professionally.
She studied at an acting school in Mumbai after her Masters, and worked in a Hindi serial for Doordarshan. She received her first break in a Kannada movie and went on to produce a Tulu film titled ‘Sompa’.
Working behind both the small and silver screen helped her gain a lot of exposure. She finds the two fields totally separate from each other and says, “A film is not shot in progression, unlike a television series. One knows what to expect in the latter. However, neither is easy to pull off and both are equally challenging.”
Dabbling with both acting and direction has helped her understand the technical details of cinema too. “The director is always the captain of the ship and has the last word,” she laughs, saying, “Actors can exercise their creative freedom only if they have made a mark in their career and are bringing something different to the table.”
Her debut in direction is a Kannada and Hindi movie titled ‘2BHK’. Though a fairly new genre, she is confident that the audience will accept films that are a combination of the two languages; she wishes that the genre grows. She says, “It is always important to stand apart rather than be a part of the crowd. The plot incorporates a traditional story with modern elements and hence attracts a wide audience from various age groups.”
However, she did have to steer clear of a few challenges as a debutant director. “Many people feel that women directors always choose to direct films that are based on women empowerment and consider only women-oriented plots but it’s not completely true. Personally, I would love to explore different genres.”
She was initially like a fish out of water and found it difficult to adjust in the industry and make her mark as she did not hail from a family of movie stars. But she believes that one can eventually exhibit their skill if they push themselves and work hard. “The creative industry is always unpredictable. Two plus two never makes a four here!” she laughs.
And amidst the bustle of popular Bollywood movies, she is confident that stories and plots in vernacular languages can pull off box office records as well. The Kannada movies that have come out recently, like ‘Rangi Taranga’, have reassured her that the industry has the potential to grow.
And among the flurry of the offers that have come to her, she will be working in a Hindi commercial film next, where she says that the “story is very different and will take the masses by surprise”.