She's going places

Soaring high

This sizzling South Indian beauty has come a long way. Archana Gupta has juggled several roles to perfection and finally made inroads into Sandalwood with Lift Kodla and Karthik. Archana shot to fame with Circus and now she’s all excited about a her new Hindi film, billed as Raveena Tandon’s comeback film.

 “In Lift Kodla, I am paired alongside Jaggesh. The character is nice and it was a totally different experience working with him. Karthik is a love-cum-action story. In the first half, I play an arrogant, rich girl but in the second half, my character smoothens out into a more soft spoken person.  I am looking forward to the shooting of my new Hindi film, directed by Rajeev Walia. Raveena will essay my mother’s role,” she says.

Archana who grew up in Agra for most of her life has now settled in Mumbai with her family. Archana avers that working in more than two South Indian languages has given her an insight into the working culture in the South. “I have completed three films in Kannada and have more offers pouring my way. I am learning Kannada. I can speak a few words but I am still getting used to speaking in sentences. I never want to restrict myself to one language. If a good Bollywood project comes my way, I would surely consider it,” she says. 

Archana takes every character as a challenge and doesn’t compromise on her work. Her dream is to work with talented directors across all languages and experiment with different kinds of roles. “Among the films I have done so far, my role as a labourer in Alok Nath Dikshit’s Saancha was the toughest. In an effort to slip into my character, I had to cut down my weight. I had to look, talk and tweak my body language to suit that of a labourer,” she recalls. Archana hopes to work with Puneeth, Diganth, Darshan and Upendra someday. “I have heard a lot about Upendra. People admire his creativity. I am always open to learning even from my co-stars. My idea is not to grab lead roles but to polish my acting skills.” If Archana didn’t become an actress, what would she have chosen? “A fashion designer” she says confidently. “I love to wear the best things. I love dressing up, not for others but for my satisfaction,” she wraps up.