Kottayam to Kollywood

She’s drop-dead gorgeous and she enters Kollywood with Madras. Meet Catherine Tresa…

Catherine Tresa

It has taken her a while — four years, to be precise — to reach Kollywood. The gorgeous girl from God’s Own Country launched her film career from Karnataka in 2010. With crossovers being the order of the day, it’s not surprising that the Kottayam-born Catherine Tresa is now making her debut in Tamil with a film titled Madras .

How did films happen for this girl educated in Dubai? Catherine excelled in playing the piano, singing, dancing, ice skating and debating, besides modelling… which eventually led her to films.

“Well, I was in Bangalore, busy with my modelling assignments when this Kannada film (

Shankar IPS ) offer came and I took it up. There was never a plan or strategy for the films that followed. I just went with the flow. After one more Kannada film, I started getting offers in Telugu. I did three in a row and am currently shooting for one more. I just completed

Rudhramadevi , while the shooting for

Erra Bus is under way. Meanwhile, the Tamil film,

Madras , came up,” says Catherine.

Madras is director Ranjith’s second film after the much-acclaimed Attakathi . Catherine is in awe of the talented director who is known for his meticulous planning. “Ranjith is such a perfectionist. His visualisation of scenes makes it easy for the technicians as well as the actors. His attitude exudes so much energy that we want to give every shot our best,” says Catherine, who is looking forward to the film’s release on September 26.

What about her role excites her? “The story is based in North Madras and I play a typical girl from that locality. I am stylish and fashionable in keeping with the trend of that locality. What I like about the character is that it’s well-etched,” says Catherine.

Her co-star and

Madras hero, Karthi, is known to excel in the kind of role he plays in the film. “Karthi is such a dedicated actor and with his experience, he quickly gets into the skin of the character.

As a person, he is easy to get along with. I have three duets with him, although they are not the typical song-and-dance routines. The songs are situational and that’s what makes them interesting.”

Catherine has already started work on her next Tamil film with Atharva. “My role in director T. N. Santosh’s Kanithan is a complete contrast to what I am doing in Madras . I play a modern, über-cool, city girl, but right now, I wouldn’t like to take attention away from Madras,” smiles Catherine.