Flora may not be tired of changing names but the media certainly is. She was Flora which is her real original name and then she became Asha Saini and then Mayuri and now she is back to being Flora. “I’m not a Christian but My mother loves the name and she calls me Flora. We are Punjabis. My first producer went to Tirupati, did puja and I read it in the papers that I’m Asha Saini. Without even asking my date of birth and other details, they said it was lucky for me. Some people even called me Flora Saini. Even I heard that my name was Catholic and people in Telugu movies could be finding it difficult to pronounceit in Telugu movies, so I agreed. Mayuri was the astrologer’s advice and it did work for me for many films. Now that I’m doing a Hindi movie, the producer said he wanted Flora so now I reverted. After that passport incident that I went through I decided it was sane to retain my original name. I want my name to prop up in Google Search eventually.”
Happy hiatus
The pretty actor with sharp features Hamsa Nandini is back in her elements; she’s finished shooting for Rana’s Na Ishtam and plays a major role in Tea Samosa Biscuit that has Srihari as her co-star and then she’s doing a guest appearance in another film as well. But what was the reason for the hiatus? “The offers that I was getting didn’t interest me and besides that I was overloaded with my assignments in Mumbai, I was endorsing a lot advertisements. In between I had been to the Telugu Association gathering in Africa where 500 Telugu families attended, I had a whale of a time there. I had been staying with a producer’s family and Sharwanand was also there; they had organised a tour for me in Kenya and it was lovely. I was amazed to see the Telugu culture being followed diligently. I missed the TANA meet during Pongal but I guess I will be there for Ugadi.”
Positively fit
Parul is nursing her wound, she has taken the loss of Telugu Warriors to heart at the CCL and has even wept uinconsolably. “We all cried. We have won all matches, this is the only one we lost,” she says in sad tone. Parul has her hands full with Kannada movies and is looking forward to working in a Telugu movie. When she is not shooting, Parul is busy with her dance forms and is quite a fitness freak. She says, “I go for Kathak classes at 8.30 am and 12 pm I go for Bharatanatyam classes. I return for lunch and in the evening I update myself with Hindi films and PR followed by my weight training. Staying fit and healthy and having a positive mind is very important to stay afloat in this industry, and . Just not the industry it is for general wellbeing as well.”
Doctor’s dilemna
Magadheera, Mass, Super, Stalin, Don are some of his famous movies but his Sanjay Raichura’s latest in Rushi has him is the decent out of the lot. He playinged a professor in a medical collegein Rushi. This is his 42nd movie and some more are in the pipeline; he’s doing a role in Ravi Babu’s movie in which he plays a doctor a role that revolves around on dogma and science. It is a five minute, but important, role but important that holds the story for the movie, he avers. A Gujarati, he’s actually a photographer who and has his own studio in Banjara Hills. He speaks fluent Telugu. Sanjay’s weakness is Hyderabad — he will not exchange this place for anything in theis world. “I’m in the learning stage, every day I learn something new but I fail to understand why I’m given a doctor’s role in most of the films, even Stalin.” The smart, good looking actor adds he was rejected for in RGV’s film because of his soft, sweet and sophisticated looks.
Acting bug bites
Narasimha was an assistant director with VV Vinayak (Yogi), Krish (Vedam) and when he expressed his wish to work with director Ravi Babu in Nacchavule he was offered a role instead; and that is how his career as an actor took off.
A graduate in computer applications from Hyderabad, Narasimha has now put his plans of becoming a director on the back burner as he now thinkgs, “Direction can wait and this is an appropriate time to act”. He is now working in Praveen Sattaru’s It’s A Routine Love Story in which he plays a nerd. It’s a full length character and there is one role in a Tanish-starrer Chanakyudu, and his latest was a role as a medico in Rushi that happens to be his 12th film. “This is a fun place to be in and I have no complaints. Life has been so far so good.”
