Ready for the challenge

Actress Meera Nandan is excited about playing three stages of a woman’s life in ‘Gunde Ninda Gudigantalu’

Meera Nandan looking forward to her new Telugu movie 'Gunde Ninda Gudigantalu'.

It is not often that heroines of Telugu films get to portray different shades in a movie. Naturally when actress Meera Nandan got an opportunity to be versatile, she jumped at the chance. In the forthcoming movie Gunde Ninda Gudigantalu , she plays three stages in a woman’s life. “I play a 14-year-old teenager then a 23-year-old youngster and finally I will be seen as a 35-year-old woman,” she says.

For Meera, Gunde Ninda… threw a challenge that she accepted gracefully. “It was a big challenge to portray different stages and variations in a woman’s life. Also there was never a single day of shooting without me,” she exults. As a tribal teenager, the character of Meera gets influenced by Jagapathi Babu. “It is not like falling in love but she feels something for him and gets influenced by him. He helps her change. From being a teenager to a mature woman… her feelings and their journey is showcased in the movie,” she says.

Shooting for the movie over 65 days was a different kind of experience, she says. “Having done a Telugu movie earlier, following Telugu in

Gunde Ninda… was not difficult. I can understand and speak a little Telugu too,” she says.

Portraying a complex character like that required preparation and Meera had planned to work on the character. “I had to play a tribal teenager and I had no idea how they are. I had decided to put on weight as a middle aged woman and reduce the weight for the teenager’s part. But the shooting happened all of a sudden so there was no time to put on weight or reduce,” she smiles.

The videos and talk by the director helped her to observe and learn. Working with Jagapathi Babu was a pleasant experience, she recalls . “I had no idea about him and since he is a senior actor, I was a bit apprehensive on the sets but it was so comfortable to work with him,” she says.

Currently she is shooting for a Malayalam comedy film

Mylanji Monjjula Veedu and enjoys her role. Meera says apart from Telugu actors, Tamil actors are also celebrated in a big way in Kerala. “Malayalam cinema is mostly about realistic cinema.

Movie-goers love to see a change that’s why Telugu and Tamil movies make a buzz here.

From celebrating the movie’s release to its 50th day celebrations…. it all happens here. Actor Suriya is big, so is actor Vijay whose banners can be seen everywhere.”

Meera says she is not in a hurry as an actor. “I am not in a rush to do more number of movies. I want to do good roles. I am happy with what ever I am doing.”