Actress Sangeetha is considered by the film industry to be every man’s fantasy. “It’s not like I’m new to this industry. I’ve been here for more than a decade and I’ve been successful in all four languages,” she says. Clad in jeans and T-shirt for the interview, she looks relaxed. And she seems in no hurry to sign more films.
“Where are the interesting scripts for a heroine here? I’d rather do one good film a year than a dozen that have no meaning,” she says.
Her role in Uyir (2006), earned critical acclaim, but it spurred controversy in the film fraternity. “I played a character who kills her husband so that she could marry his brother. People should understand that my body language and expression has to reflect what the character feels. Similar roles were done by Prakash Raj in Aasai (1995) and Ajith in Vaali (1999). Everybody praised them. So why single me out?” she asks.
The commercial success and the eventual moolah that comes with a hit imply an actor is bankable. But Evano Oruvan, in which she plays a middle class homemaker and mother of a school going daughter, failed to set the box-office jingling to the sweet sound of money. “I agree that money is important but I make enough in Telugu films. Everyone appreciated my role in this film. Filmmakers are confident that I can do any character.” In her latest film, Dhanam, Sangeetha plays a sex-worker. Scenes from the film show her at her glamorous best, though some say it is vulgar. “Somehow I cannot associate the word ‘glamour’ with my role. Honestly, do you find classy-looking sex-workers on the streets? Dhanam is a prostitute for whom clothes are a hindrance.
She wears a saree in a provocative way. She wears heavy make-up.
That’s what prostitutes do. They want to attract attention. And I’ve tried to do the same in Dhanam. You can be sensual without being vulgar with just your body language.” Sangeetha started in the Tamil film industry doing run-of-the-mill roles. “I was never interested in acting initially. I was so blasé about everything.” She says she was not even c o n - cerned that most of her Tamil films bombed at the box-office. “Meeting director Krishna Vamsi (Khadgam, a Telugu film released in 2002) changed me. He taught me to perceive, think and analyse the character I’d be playing in a film. I became focused and began taking my profession seriously.” In Khadgam, she plays a village belle who comes to Hyderabad in search of stardom. “Khadgam literally fell into my lap. I didn’t do any extra homework for my role. I just did what my director asked me to do,” she recalls.
Lately, Sangeetha has been on TV more than on the silver screen, as a judge for the dance show Jodi No 1.
“Dancing is my passion. In a TV show, I get to meet amateur dancers.
They take our suggestions seriously.
By the end of the season, they turn out to be phenomenal dancers. It’s a very gratifying experience.” Her mother’s surgery last year and her subsequent recovery has brought a new sense of priorities. “I think I’ve spent too much time making money. I don’t do too many outdoor shoots because I want to spend more time with my mum,” she explains.
Does her future include marriage? “I don’t have a plan. I’ve never had one. I’m very content with what I have. I have no big ambition. I would like to act even after I marry but then it wouldn’t be my decision alone.”
“Where are the interesting scripts for a heroine here? I’d rather do one good film a year than a dozen that have no meaning,” she says.
Her role in Uyir (2006), earned critical acclaim, but it spurred controversy in the film fraternity. “I played a character who kills her husband so that she could marry his brother. People should understand that my body language and expression has to reflect what the character feels. Similar roles were done by Prakash Raj in Aasai (1995) and Ajith in Vaali (1999). Everybody praised them. So why single me out?” she asks.
The commercial success and the eventual moolah that comes with a hit imply an actor is bankable. But Evano Oruvan, in which she plays a middle class homemaker and mother of a school going daughter, failed to set the box-office jingling to the sweet sound of money. “I agree that money is important but I make enough in Telugu films. Everyone appreciated my role in this film. Filmmakers are confident that I can do any character.” In her latest film, Dhanam, Sangeetha plays a sex-worker. Scenes from the film show her at her glamorous best, though some say it is vulgar. “Somehow I cannot associate the word ‘glamour’ with my role. Honestly, do you find classy-looking sex-workers on the streets? Dhanam is a prostitute for whom clothes are a hindrance.
She wears a saree in a provocative way. She wears heavy make-up.
That’s what prostitutes do. They want to attract attention. And I’ve tried to do the same in Dhanam. You can be sensual without being vulgar with just your body language.” Sangeetha started in the Tamil film industry doing run-of-the-mill roles. “I was never interested in acting initially. I was so blasé about everything.” She says she was not even c o n - cerned that most of her Tamil films bombed at the box-office. “Meeting director Krishna Vamsi (Khadgam, a Telugu film released in 2002) changed me. He taught me to perceive, think and analyse the character I’d be playing in a film. I became focused and began taking my profession seriously.” In Khadgam, she plays a village belle who comes to Hyderabad in search of stardom. “Khadgam literally fell into my lap. I didn’t do any extra homework for my role. I just did what my director asked me to do,” she recalls.
Lately, Sangeetha has been on TV more than on the silver screen, as a judge for the dance show Jodi No 1.
“Dancing is my passion. In a TV show, I get to meet amateur dancers.
They take our suggestions seriously.
By the end of the season, they turn out to be phenomenal dancers. It’s a very gratifying experience.” Her mother’s surgery last year and her subsequent recovery has brought a new sense of priorities. “I think I’ve spent too much time making money. I don’t do too many outdoor shoots because I want to spend more time with my mum,” she explains.
Does her future include marriage? “I don’t have a plan. I’ve never had one. I’m very content with what I have. I have no big ambition. I would like to act even after I marry but then it wouldn’t be my decision alone.”
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