With 150 Kannada films in her kitty, the pretty Pavitra Lokesh from Mysore says she has done very few Telugu films but is very keen on charting out a career here. She started working when she was 16-years-old, her father Mysore Lokesh who is an artiste with over 300 films in Kannada to his credit. “I was in a dilemma, it just came to me my father was an actor. Ambareesh would visit us at times because father was no more. He asked me if I was interested in acting. I was living in Mysore and was not sure if I could continue because most of the work was in Bangalore and I had to shuttle between Bangalore and Mysore. When I started as a heroine, my first few films were not a hit and I felt it wasn't my cup of tea and thought I must continue with my studies. Suddenly, I was offered a role, a small one and it became a major hit and that was when I realised that an actor shouldn't worry about the role being big or small. After my graduation, I resolved to take acting seriously and told my mother I would want to move to Bangalore.”
Pavitra then did a lot of art films, Girish Kasaravalli's films, won State awards and while simultaneously doing commercial films. “Working in a nine to five job is very monotonous, I worked for a year in a company and left for Bangalore in 2000. I had a lot of dreams, wanted to do MBA, wanted to become an IAS officer and many other dreams and equally many deviations. Can't say I'm satisfied but here I'm offered a new thing every day, you get into a new character in every film. My husband is an actor and producer, he understands my profession and life has been easy and nice after marrying him. I look forward my trips to Hyderabad because I am all by myself. It's like a holiday. In Bangalore, I do an extra job, I do the cooking. Every film will have different schedules and I get my five or six days every month.”
Pavitra was doing a serial in Kannada which was a huge hit and was remade it in Telugu for ETV and that's how she got introduced to the big screen here. Ahuti Prasad who worked with her in the serial helped her with the Telugu debut. He was from Raichur and also her father's friend and had produced a couple of Kannada films. On Telugu movies she adds, “Initially I thought women have very less to do in Telugu films, but when I started doing Muthyala Subbaiah's projects I realised there was enough importance given to women's roles. His stories have lot of sentiment and emotion. I did Shakti , Orange , Prasthanam and now Parents . Deva Katta recently offered another film but I just had a baby so I couldn't do it. May be six months down the line I can take up more roles.” Shyam K Naidu, cinematographer of Prasthanam and Parents suggested Pavitra to work in Parents as he felt she was apt for the role. The film is releasing towards the end of this month. Pavitra does not forget to add, “I like this place because they are very professional and they treat you well.”
