Bhama getting into Telugu

Her debut movie hardly set the cash registers ringing at the box office, but her innocent face stayed in the mind of audience. Bhama arrived and made her mark in the industry playing a couple of amiable roles. Having cut her teeth in the Malayalam and Tamil industries the actress from Manarkadu in Kottayam is all set to prove her acting skill in Kannada and Telugu movies. Bhama�s debut movies in Telugu and Kannada - Manchivadu and Modalasala - are ready to hit the silver screen shortly. She received offers from both the industries since the release of her debut movie Nivedyam directed by the late Lohitadas in 2007. At first she was reluctant to take up offers as she was not comfortable with the language, but later she realised her mistake. �It was an entirely different world compared to the industry here. I learned a lot about acting and technical perfection in filmmaking from my experience there,� she says. Bhama says Kannada was easier than Telugu for her. �I worked hard and learned my dialogues by heart. There were also Malayalam translators to assist me�. Bhama feels unlike in Malayalam, heroines have an equally important role in the success of Kannada and Telugu movies. The audience is keen to have a good actress in the lead, so much so a film with a top hero can end up a flop if the heroine performs badly. Manchivadu directed by P Lakshminarayana (Deepti) under the banner of Mega Super Good Films has Tanish and Raji, son of music director Koti, in the lead roles. K Viswanatha, director of the path breaking film Sankarabharanam, is also playing a key role. It was cameraman Venugopal who suggested Bhama�s name for the film. �The director came to our flat at Edapally and narrated the story. I was instantly impressed by the script,� says the actress. Bhama is hopeful that the film will make the perfect launch pad for her. In the film Bhama plays the role of Indu, a very bold and modern girl brought up in USA, who comes to her ancestral home in Andhra Pradesh to spend her vacation with her grandfather. The story mainly revolves around how the characters played by Tanish and Raji fall in love with her. Modalasala, her debut Kannada film directed by Purushothama under the banner of Karnataka Talkies, is based on father-daughter relations. Bhama stars opposite Yash. Incidentally it was actress Vinaya Prasad (of Sthree fame) who recommended Bhama to the director who was looking for a fresh face for the lead role. Having completed both the projects Bhama is now busy polishing her skills in classical and western dance. She says her new-found love for dance is the result of the realisation that being a good dancer could help her establish herself in the southern film industry. Aerobics and yoga have become part of her daily routine. Though struck by the industries in the neighbouring states, Bhama vouches that her first preference will always be Malayalam movies. Last year she turned down many offers since she found the roles offered to her repetitive, reminiscent of characters she had already played. Her criteria in selection limited the number of her films to three last year. But Bhama, now busy with a few Malayalam projects, is hopeful that the new year will bring her a lot of different and memorable characters. �I prefer to be known as a versatile actress capable of doing all types of characters,� Bhama says. She candidly admits that she is fully focused on her career now with even her family coming second. But the actress, who says marriage plans have yet to cross her heart, is very serious about her education. She enrolled for BA Sociology by distant education, but could not appear for exams as shooting schedules kept her busy. However, she is determined to complete the course. Before entering the tinsel world Bhama was another girl next door with a twinkle in her eyes. She was always beautiful, but now experience in the industry has also made her bold.