'I had to unlearn everything'

Born into a family who have established themselves in the film and theatre business, Sandalwood actress Samyukta Hornad feels that she has a lot to live upto. But the starlet doesn’t shy away from the challenge — instead she faces it head on and says it makes her more conscious of the roles she chooses.

“My family has played an important in my career so far and I always go to them when I’m picking my scripts. I can’t afford to make stupid mistakes because they are all well known in this industry. I want them to be proud of me. So when I’m looking at scripts, I need them to be challenging — they should need me and not just anyone. Yes, I’m picky that way,” she says.

The actress says that the recent hit movie she starred in, ‘Oggarane’, has been a wonderful experience. “I had to unlearn everything when doing that movie with Prakash Raj. It was amazing watching him, he makes it seem so effortless. It was a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity, a bumper prize that I got!” she raves.

  After her well-known performance in ‘Lifeu Ishtene’ with Diganth, she took a small sabbatical to complete her studies. “I did the movie when I was studying in Christ and they weren’t very tolerant of me missing many classes. So I decided to take a break and complete my studies and pursue acting later on,” she says.

She says the cast of ‘Lifeu Ishtene’ were very patient with her inexperience. “I was trained in theatre and when I switched to film, it was a whole new experience. Every twitch and body movement is caught by the camera and it takes a while to get used to. In theatre, we project our voice loudly and the movements are exaggerated, which is unnecessary in film. So when I did my first film, I was talking loudly and moving wildly. But my cast and crew were very nice about it and helped me.”

According to her, whatever the stage cannot capture, film does and that is why she fell in love with it. “My mother wants me to go back to studies and make acting a hobby but I want to do this for as long as I can. It doesn’t matter what kind of film it is, as long as it has a good script, screenplay and role,” she says.

“It was my mother who encouraged me to get into acting in the first place. She said I should try one film and see how it feels. I wasn’t very keen at first; everyone in the family was doing it, it was only natural and nothing new.

But once I got the main role in a film, I was addicted. It’s like a leech — it bites you and never lets go!” she adds.

The youngster says that she finds it hard to balance time between her personal and professional life. “It is people like my mother, grandmother and others like Madhuri Dixit, who know how to manage their personal and professional lives with ease, that are my inspirations.”

When asked whether she prefers ‘Belwadi’ or ‘Hornad’ as her last name, she said, “My name has always been Hornad and I like it that way. But the media started addressing me as ‘Belwadi’, even after I told them not to, and asked me if I was ashamed of that name.

They have even asked my uncle (Prakash Belwadi) if I was his daughter. Now I have let it go,” she says exasperatedly.