Avantika Shetty rose to fame with her portrayal of Sandhya in Anup Bhandari’s Rangi Taranga . She played a journalist in the film. This young actress, born in Mangaluru and brought up in Mumbai, always “garnered dreams of making it big in films. But, was “not sure how my family would digest this dream. So I decided to become a journalist, thinking I would interview people from cinema and also cover crime. I ended up in an advertising agency in Mumbai.”
When she was handling clients for her agency, Avantika recalls she would get “frustrated when people found it difficult to emote in front of the camera. I felt I could do it effortlessly. I would bunk office and do modelling assignments. On days there were no modelling assignments, I would still bunk work, sit at bus stops and benches and day dream about a great future in films,” she laughs.
Avantika Shetty
Avantika quit her job to study acting at Anupam Kher’s acting school and landed roles in Hindi serials — Sajan Ghar Jaana Hai on Star Plus and Na Aana Is Des Laado for Colors TV and others. Did she ever think of getting into Bollywood? “I still live in Mumbai, but am not an outgoing person and my networking is not great. I believe that my work will get me noticed. I am ready to work in any language,” responds the actress.
She adds, “ I always wanted to make my début in Kannada films and was thrilled at the response Rangi Taranga received.
Now she is all geared up for her next release Rajaratha— a bilingual (Kannada and Telugu) — with the team of Rangi Taranga . Avantika, who plays the role of Megha and is paired with Nirup Bhandari, talks about Rajaratha . “Megha is very different from me in real life. She’s delicate, shy, timid and soft-spoken. When I looked at myself on the screen, I just couldn’t relate to the character,” reveals the actress, who also has also acted with Upendra for Kalpana 2.
Today, when most cine stars are foraying into TV from the big screen, it is vice versa for Avantika. “People like Puneeth Rajkumar and Ramesh Aravind are doing TV after doing many films. They did not enter through TV. Shah Rukh Khan started with television and also did films. I want to do the same. TV is big and has a huge reach. But, as an actor I want to do films and see myself on the big screen, experimenting with different roles. With acting in TV serials, there are chances of getting bored as a particular role will go on for years,” says Avantika.
I would bunk work, sit at bus stops and benches and day dream about a great future in films
She was also part of Raju Kannada Medium and faced some issues with the team.
“I prefer to look forward. Such misunderstandings happen in every workplace. Your wave lengths do not match but such experiences teach you a lot. I am just super excited about Rajaratha . I have not signed any film as I want to give my all to this film and its promotion. This film will also be my debut in Telugu,” she beams, crossing her fingers.
