|
Tell
us about your background?
I
belong to Surat, Gujarat. I come from a Gujarati family. My father
is into textiles business. I come from a very orthodox family
where girls get married at the age of 19.
I
used to be very camera friendly right from my child hood. I used
to fix up camera and ask my mom to shoot my photographs. I was
very ambitious and I wanted to be in the limelight sometime. I
was 4 years old when I started doing my stage acting. I won the
Miss Surat title at the age of 15. After 3 years, I took part
in the Miss India contest in 2001. I stood number four. I also
won the title of Sony Viewer's Choice of India. On academics aspect,
I am currently doing my 3rd year BA English Literature in a college
in Surat. I was in Bombay for about 8-9 months where I did a few
TV commercials like Himani cream, Himani herbal soap, Nile herbal
shampoo, Manikchand Ghutka, Arun Ice cream etc. I wanted to enter
Bollywood as a heroine. It was very difficult and moreover I was
new to Bombay. When I was about to return back to Surat thinking
that I could not make it into films, a friendof mine told me that
a South Indian producer was looking for a heroine in a Telugu
film. I attended the audition and I was selected for Sontham.
Once I started working for Sontham, I became confident of myself.
I also opined that Telugu film industry is safer and secure compared
to Bollywood.
During
the making of Sontham, I got an offer to act in Gemini. I was
excited about it and decided that this could be a turning point
for my career. I have lot of offers now and I am looking for a
good script.
Is
it true that you signed a contract with JD Arts for three films?
Yes.
I signed an exclusive contract with JD Arts for three films. But
as you mentioned in idlebrain.com
news, they never stopped me from doing other films. The producers
of JD Arts are very cooperative and kind to me. Whenever I get
exciting offers, I ask those people to call up JD Arts office
and request them. I do not want to breach the contract.
How
is it working with a top star like Venkatesh?
As
I said in yesterday's audio release function, he is a wonderful
actor. He knows how to comfort his co-artists. I was very nervous
in the beginning. As a kid, I saw Venky's Anari and I liked it
a lot. It is one of my all time favorite films. After watching
'Anari' I told my grand mother that my husband should be
like the hero in that film. When she came to know that I was co-starring
Venkatesh in a film, she reminded me of my chat with her after
watching 'Anari' film. I learnt a great deal from Venkatesh.
I take my own time to learn things and he never loses his temper.
Tell
us about your character in Gemini?
In
Gemini, my character belongs to a Hindi Marwadi family
settled in Vijayawada. In our family, nobody knows Telugu and
I am the only one who knows both Hindi and Telugu. I am playing
the role of a fun-loving bubbly girl. At the same time, she is
serious when it comes to work.
Did
you face any problem with Telugu language?
My
experience on stage helped me utter complex dialogues without
any difficulty. I generally read the entire dialogue and understand
the meaning of each word. Only then I can express my emotions
on the screen. In the initial days of doing Sontham, I was scared
because I used to observe the lips of people when they speak Telugu.
I used to find it hard to speak Telugu as it involves excessive
twisting of the tongue. I used to sit in front of mirror and practice
Telugu dialogues. But now I have learnt to get used to it.
There
was a rumor about you lodging a complaint against Srinu Vytla
[director of Sontham] for his misbehavior with you. Would you
mind clarifying what exactly happened?
Whatever
happened happened for good. Even if I get a chance to work with
him in future, I know how to handle the situation. I used to be
very frank and straightforward earlier. Now I am learning the
art of diplomacy.
Does
that mean that something did go wrong?
Let
bygones be bygones. I don't want to be known as a fighter. I believe
in forgiving and forgetting.
Were
you in Surat when the deadly disease plague spread throughout
the city?
Yes!
But I don't remember much of it, as I was a small kid at that
time. For a month, all the windows of our house were closed. My
mom used to burn the 'neem patta' (neem leaf). We did not
step out from home for a month. Nobody visited Surat during that
period. The entire city was quite 'shmashaan' (burial ground).
The images shown on the TV were terrible where they showed dying
people. But as a kid I was happy, as I did not have to attend
school for a month. We were about 13-14 kids in our house and
we had gala time having fun. But other memories were bad.
I
do not understand why Gujarat suffered so many disasters at regular
intervals.
Tell
us about your future films
I
am getting offers from Telugu, Tamil and Kannada producers but
I have not confirmed any of them.
Tell
us how you came to know about idlebrain.com?
My
friend used to surf idlebrain.com. He called me one day to inform
me that the photographs
and details of Sontham film were being posted on the site.
As I did not have an access to a computer in Hyderabad, I hired
a laptop for a month during postproduction stage of Sontham to
surf idlebrain.com. There were instances when I surfed the site
even during late hours at night, when I could not catch up with
my sleep.
Tell
us about the real Namitha - not the one we see on the screen!
Till
a year back, I was a tomboy. Now I see myself as a serious woman.
Being the only girl among 25 cousins who were all guys, I used
be like a boy. I used to wear jeans and say 'Hey boy! Whats up!!'.
I used to have a long hair but used to hide it, as I didn't like
it. I grew it just to please my dad, as he likes me having long
hair. People used to call me 'Tiger'. I was the only girl in our
neighborhood playing cricket. While playing cricket, I used to
dive, fall down and get injured. I never used to take care of
my diet, skin or beauty. After coming to film industry, it appears
very strange to me to do so much of skin care and diet control.
After coming here, I started wearing skirts to feel and believe
that I am a grown up woman. I take care that my newfound actress
status does not affect the real Namitha inside me. I still want
to go out to Barista [a coffee chain] and have coffee with my
friends.
Tell
us about your food habits
I
do not drink lots of water. I know that drinking water frequently
helps. I love junk food like pizzas and burgers. I was shocked
when I came to Hyderabad and realized that there is no Mc Donald's
in Hyd. Then somebody told me that there is Pizza Hut. I love
sweets. I have a sweet tooth. When I was in my tomboyish days,
I used to eat 8 chapatis for lunch followed by 3-4 Rasgollas and
gulabjamoons. I am a freak out when it comes to food. I am a pure
vegetarian.
You
changed your name from Namitha to Bhairavi. What is the reason
behind it?
I
have other names as well like Nandini. My mother believes in a
family astrologer. When he suggested change of my name, I ignored
it, as I believed in my ability too much. Things started going
against me as I lost Miss India crown by 0.02 marks. Then I started
thinking that my name might be unlucky for my career. In my personal
life, I like everybody calling me Namitha. But on career front,
I want to be addressed as Bhairavi. I opted for Bhairavi as it's
the name of Goddess Kalimata and one of the seven ragas.
Do
you want to say anything to the fellow visitors of idlebrain.com?
Idlebrain.com
is very good and it gives enough information about everything.
Keep visiting idlebrain.com and keep watching my movies as well.
Have fun. Life is short. Do not miss any opportunity that you
think you should not miss. Live and let live!
|
