Actress Sharmila Mandre has been missing in action from the Kannada film industry for sometime now.

The young lady says that she has been concentrating on her debut project in Tamil — Mirattal — for the last six months.

She’s visibly excited about her role in the movie and says she has put in loads of  work and hopes that her debut film will be accepted by the people. “I am comfortable working in the Kannada film industry because I know the language very well. But I don’t know a word of Tamil and I had to work overtime to learn the dialogues and switch from one emotion to another with ease to make sure that I don’t slip anywhere. It’s been a great learning experience,” Sharmila tells Metrolife.

Talking more about her role in the film, Sharmila says that she plays a don’s sister in the movie. “The young girl is sent abroad for higher education and returns to the village to live with her brother, a local don. He’s possessive about his kid sister and doesn’t allow her to mix with people, But she sneaks out, rebels and defies her brother. Here’s the twist in the tale,” explains Sharmila. She further says that the role is quite unlike how she is in real life. “I am not a rebellious person but I am my own woman. I have very strong opinions but I do respect other’s views. I’ve grown up without any restriction and that has made me a responsible individual,” she adds.

Sharmila excitedly adds that her decision to cross over to Tamil has been worth it. “I always wanted my debut in another language to be big. Here I even dubbed for the film, despite not knowing the language which was a big challenge for me,” she says and adds, “I know in the bargain I missed out on a lot of good projects that came my way, but I wanted to concentrate on giving this role my best.”

She is one of those who wants people to remember her for the roles she has done rather than the number of movie projects she has signed. “Script is always a priority before I sign a film. I don’t want to work on countless projects and not be remembered at all,” she avers. 

Sharmila is choosy about her projects and has strong reservations about issues like wearing a bikini and lip-locking. “I don’t want to do anything that will put my family in an uncomfortable position. I am always known to shy away from doing romantic scenes and the directors have had to retake the romantic scenes to get them right,” she points out.

And marriage, she says, is a long way off. “I haven’t come across the right man as yet. Marriage will happen at its own pace,” she signs off.