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Sameera Reddy juggles de-glam roles with comic capers
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Photo: Nagara Gopal
Sameera Reddy
2009 has been one of my best years and I doubt if 2010 can match up to it. I went for a darshan to Tirupathi and thanked God for all that he bestowed on me this year,” says Sameera Reddy, who was in Hyderabad for a day before heading to Chennai, which has become her second home after the success of Vaaranam Aayiram (Surya s/o Krishnan). “Don’t write me off from Telugu films yet,” he laughs. “I came here to attend a few discussions. Talks are on for a Telugu film. Acting in a Telugu film now and then makes me feel closer to my roots.”
Flair for comedy
At the moment, there is more emphasis on Hindi and Tamil films. First to release will be Priyadarshan’s De Dhana Dhan. The film’s promotional campaign has been riding on Akshay Kumar and Katrina Kaif and Sameera maintains, “Akki and Katrina have together delivered big hits. It’s up to the producer to decide the promotional strategy. There are 27 characters in the film and I am paired with Suniel Shetty. Before Race, I never thought I had a flair for comedy. I think I’ve a better job in De Dhana Dhan.” She remembers Priyadarshan’s moment of glory while they were shooting in Karaikudi. “When he got the call stating that he was chosen for the National Award, we went nuts. He did an outstanding job in Kanchivaram. I’m amazed how he shifts gears while directing comedies,” says Sameera.
After this comic caper, Sameera will shift gears too with no-nonsense characters in Red Alert and Yeh Hosla. On Red Alert, which was screened at the Berlin Film Festival, she says, “I play a character who gets raped by police and then joins the naxalites.” Nagesh Kukunoor’s Yeh Hosla, she says, “is my best film so far. We shot for two months in Rajasthan. Nagesh is such a task master. I had lost weight for the role of a slum dweller.”
The characters in Red Alert and Yeh Hosla warranted that she went de-glam. Reflecting on her Bengali film Kaal Purush, where she first appeared sans makeup, she says, “A lot of actresses hesitate to go de-glam. I felt liberated. Gautam Menon too made me appear in Vaaranam Aayiram with just the basic make-up. My girl-next-door portrayal won me a lot of women fans. I knew I was on the right track when women appreciated me.” She has signed another film with Gautam Menon, an edge-of-the-seat thriller, apart from Asal with Ajith.
2009, she reflects, gave her more than just films: “I learnt to play golf, scuba diving and skiing. It can’t get better than this.”
SANGEETHA DEVI DUNDOO
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