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`It's nice to get away from Mumbai'

Former Miss India Universe Tanushree Dutta makes her debut in Telugu films with Balakrishna's `Veerabhadra'

PHOTO: V. SUDERSHAN

SOUTH BOUND Tanushree thinks Telugu films give more scope for performance

Tanushree Dutta is the newest Bollywood actress trying her luck in regional films. The dusky former Miss India Universe is in town shooting for her first Telugu film, Veerabhadra. You nearly do a double take seeing Tanushree dressed like a traditional South Indian, a contrast to her ultra glamorous self in Aashiq Banaya Aapne.

"I am enjoying this whole new look. Veerabhadra is releasing in the end of April. It's nice to get away from Mumbai for a while. I am impressed with the way the unit has been working," she says. Obviously inclined to more work in Telugu films, she says, "I've been getting a number of offers from the Tamil and Telugu film industries. I've been looking at a few scripts and I like some of them. But as of now, I haven't finalised any project."

She admits that memorising her dialogues in Telugu is a tough task and that she isn't familiar with films made in the South. "Going by what I've seen, films here give you more scope for performance. For the sheer experience of soaking in the culture of a new region, it's been worth the effort."

Like a number of Bollywood actors, she is also keen on acting in Bengali films. "They make good films. Ideally, I'd like to do a mix of Hindi, Bengali and Telugu movies. But frankly, my priority is Hindi cinema for now. I have to consolidate myself in Bollywood," she affirms.

A couple of months ago, she was on the verge of signing a Chinese film as well. "I couldn't take time off from my commitments in Mumbai. Maybe it will take a while before I do an international film."

Projects in the offing include an action thriller with Zayed Khan directed by Vikram Bhatt, Good Boy Bad Boy, a comedy produced by Subhash Ghai, a new film with Viveik Oberoi and Bipasha Basu, and an Abbas Mustan movie that stars Ajay Devgan and Sanjay Dutt amongst others.

Aashiq Banaya Aapne and Chocolate may not have been box office hits, but she did get noticed in the remix video of Aashiq Banaye Aapne. Introspecting on the video, she admits, "The song was lovely and topped music charts. But I guess I could have done without too much of skin show. The bare back shot wasn't actually necessary. Well, it's all past me now."

SANGEETHA DEVI. K

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