After Happy Days, Gayathrri wasn't keen on reliving the short haired tom boy Appu on the silver screen. So she had to go through a lull; but she says she wasn't complaining as acting wasn't her choice of career, she had termed it as an interim career option. “. Once I wanted to be a nun, then when I joined the NCC, I looked at myself donning the cops' cap or becoming a powerful babu . Career options kept coming and going and I still didn't know my calling. During that time Happy Days was on and dad was called by Shekhar Kamula; I just tagged along to fight boredom at home. As I sat flipping through magazines on the table, Shekhar saw me and said ‘I found my Appu.' I was asked to do a photo shoot which I promptly refused. But the team managed to make me give in,” recollects Gayathrri.
“Finally when the dates were announced, I was still found dilly-dallying. Mom put her foot down and asked me to take a call and not delay the team,” adds Gayathrri
The rest is history. The only unpleasant time she recalls of Happy Days was when her hair was chopped off. “I cried, stopped talking to everyone. But Shekhar pampered me with chocolates and somehow got me to finish my shoot. He was also very accommodating and kept my shoot after my exams. My studies weren't disturbed at all,” she says.
Post Happy Days , her career graph didn't rise abnormally but she isn't disillusioned. “I used to love the attention after the movie release and I loved signing autographs. I started to love it and as a beginner in the industry knew there are challenges to be faced. I made some wrong choices and if they didn't go well, I will count them as an experience. If it is nice to taste success, we should be open to meeting failures at times,” reasons Gayathrri.
Born to parents who have been in the industry for long, Gayathrri says acting reflected nowhere in her short lived career options. But she kept herself busy.
“I joined the gym to stay fit; then like always I was bored and joined horse riding.It's been over six months and I am still loving it. I joined the English Theatre group and recently did a play The Jungle Book . I also learned singing from my grandmother and will write my finals for Carnatic music by next June,” she says.
What about movies? “Some good projects have landed and I will be off for shooting in Chennai by next week. I will be playing a lead role in a movie with a two leading actors in the industry for a ‘love triangle.' Simultaneously I will be shooting for another movie with another leading actor from the south. My third project is with the Kannada industry,” says this final year student of tourism and management. So will she do a short hair act again? “No way! It took ages for my hair to get back to its old length. I wouldn't cut my hair again,” she laughs.
