Tell us about your character in Swagatam film?
I am doing the role of Jalaja Rao who is a funny, witty and hilarious lady. She is a person who loves to live each day to the fullest. She is also very courageous.

How different is it from your earlier films?
I always try not to repeat my character because I get bored very fast. If you look at my past three films, Anasuya was a thriller. Satyabhama was a comedy and Maya Bazaar was a fantasy. Swagatam is a family entertainer.

Tell us about the team of Swagatam?
Jagapati Babu: He is a wonderful person to work with. He is quite unlike the guys with hero image. He is a simple and a down to earth person. Since he is also one of the producers, he made us and the technicians very comfortable on the sets. He is a good actor and a great producer to work with.

Dasarath: He is really a nice guy to work with. He is quite and calm. He does not stress people on the sets. He is also technically very good.

Anushka: I am working with her for the first time. She is quite funny and is always smiling. She is a good actor, though I did not have many scenes in her combination.

Why do you prefer to do different small budget films like Anasuya, Satyabhama and Maya Bazaar instead of big hero’s commercial films?
If I do 4 films for satisfaction, I will do one film for money. If I had done Anasuya, Satyabhama and Maya Bazaar for satisfaction, I did Jai Chiranjeeva for money. I have reached the stage where I don’t need money. Whatever I get as remuneration is my pocket money. What is the guarantee that a big commercial film will become a hit. A dear friend of mine Jr. NTR who gave stupendous hit Simhadri also gave a film like Andhrawala. When the success is not guaranteed, I always prefer a small budgeted heroine oriented films to a commercial film in which I don’t have much work to do.

What factors do you consider while accepting a film?
I consider the four factors (in the same order) while accepting a film
1. Good script
2. Good director
3. Good casting
4. Good producer

What went wrong with with Maya Bazaar and Satyabhama?
I did Maya Bazaar only because of the director and producer, not because of the script. I did it for different reasons. I think the common cinegoer did not accept the Satyabhama film because the film failed to convince them of the short term memory loss concept.

Didn’t you know that Satyabhama is heavily inspired by 50 First Dates?
Yes. But It is natural to get inspired these days.

Do you have any preference to any language?
I had done many films in Telugu, Tamil, Bhojpuri, Punjabi and Hindi. I don’t give any preference to any language. I only look for a role that excites me.

Which is your most favorite character among the films you worked?
All characters are my favorites. Otherwise, I would not have done those films. But whenever I act in a film I take around 3 days to get into the skin of the character.

Which one is the most challenging character you have done?
Anasuya is both physically and mentally challenging character.

Is your career getting affected because of your marriage?
I always did films that are accepted by my family. Hence my marriage is not going to be an obstacle to my career.

You made your debut with Yuvakudu in 2000. And now it is 2008. What changes you do see in yourself and your work?
I made my debut with Yuvakudu and did many films in Telugu, Tamil, Hindi, Punjabi and Bhojpuri. I am now married. And I started my second innings now. If I look back at my first innings, I was consistently growing with each film as an actress. The film industry has taught me so much. I will be grateful to Telugu film industry forever.

Now I am more easy and more relaxed. Personally I have improved a lot.

If you are offered a negative role. Would you do it?
Yes. I would love to.

What affect your husband Bharat Thakur has made on your life?
He is a part of my life and I am a part of his life. I keep learning from him as a person. He is loving, caring and extremely giving. I had learnt a lot from Bharat and will be learning a lot more from him in the future.

Will you change your name to Bhumika Bharat since you are married?
For Swagatam film, I am going to have Bhumika Chawla in the title cards. I have not thought about my future films.

Bharat Thakur (who is sitting beside) interrupted and said, “Bhumika Chawla should continue with the same name. she is known to billions of people as Bhumika Chawla. I am not going to change my name to Bharat Chawla. Then why should she change her name to Bhumika Thakur? I don’t want to kill her identity just because she is married to me.”

Do you have any plans to step into direction?
My be or may not be. I am not sure. Right now I am focusing on my career as an actress.

What are your future films?
I am listening to scripts now. I will be doing a Hindi film titled ‘90 minutes’ in the direction of E Nivas. This film will be of 90 minutes duration and it shows what happens in 90 minutes.

Other Interviews
• Jagapati Babu (Actor)
• Vijay C Kumar (Cinematographer)
• Sekhar Kammula (Director)
• Ram Gopal Varma (Director)
• Srinivasa Reddy (Director)
• Mickey J Meyer (Music director)
• R Narayana Murthy (Producer)
• Cherry (Producer)
• Baba Sehgal (Singer)
• Buddhadev Dasgupta (Director)
• Tom Alter (Actor)
• Kundan Shah (Director)
• Priyadarshini Ram (Director)
• Selva Raghavan (Director)
• Vijaya Bhaskar (Director)
• Vishnu (Hero)
• R Ravinder (Art director)
• Venkatesh (Hero)
• Ratnavelu (Cinematographer)
• Chandra Sekhar Yeleti (Director)
• Madan (Director)
• Mohana Krishna Indraganti (Director)
• Raja (Actor)
• Dega Deva Kumar Reddy (Producer)
• Nidhi Prasad (Director)
• Hema Chandra (Singer)
• Vijay C Chakravarthy (Cinematographer)
• VN Aditya (Director)
• Nagarjuna (Actor)