JOIN US'We have strong scripts and actors'
It doesn’t seem like South Indian actress Teena Ponnappa stepped into the industry by fluke.
A former model and MBA graduate who was preparing for Civil Services examinations, she quit to join the glamorous film fraternity and soon had offers coming in.
From popular movies like ‘Gulabi Street’, ‘Red’ and ‘Belli Modadha Ambara’, she is now a popular star in the South Indian film industry and is looking forward to a big release next month.
Speaking about her new project, ‘Sri Chakram’, the full-of-life actress says that she has just finished shooting for an ‘exciting’ film and is waiting for people to see the movie. The story revolves around a rich girl who looks for simplicity and happiness in her life.
“It’s a journey-based film,” she says. “All of us were travelling to different parts of Karnataka and went on crazy road trips. There were some exotic locations we shot at as well.” She recalls that she was instantly attracted to this film when the director narrated the script to as she found the role strong and solid.
“It is also a film which revolves around kids and it instantly touched my heart.” So despite the fatigue from all the travelling and tough preparations, Teena says she enjoyed acting in the movie.
However, there were many challenging scenes here too.
Teena says that she was very nervous at different stages of the shoot. “I was very nervous as to whether I could pull off my role. However, the directors and the rest of the crew were confident and supportive of my work. Their faith kept me motivated throughout the movie.”
She is starring opposite a new actor, Arav Surya, and is all praises for his work. She says that though this movie was Arav’s debut, his performance was excellent and from the heart for a young actor.
She has also received two offers from Bollywood but didnt want to take up those scripts as the subjects didn’t appeal to her.
In the industry, Teena looks up to actress Kalpana and says that she loved each role she essayed.
About the scripts she takes up, Teena adds, “I am choosy about my roles. I take up only performance-oriented scripts in this male-dominated industry but I am happy to see that there are a lot of women-oriented roles that is coming up. This is a big boon to the Kannada film industry.”
She is also positive about the growth of the Sandalwood industry as she finds subjects from Kannada being taken by Bollywood and churned into fresh scripts. “We do have a small viewership but there are strong scripts and actors. Directors are trying out new concepts, concentrating on art cinema and giving a chance to fresh faces.”
And someday, she says that she would like to take up a role in Bollywood too. “But it should be a good banner or a strong subject,” she laughs.
Talking about what she has planned this festive season, she says, “During ‘Navaratri’, we have ‘devi puja’ at home and it feels nice to do that.”