Another Telugu girl on the rise

Hyderabad: Sushma Raj is all set to make her Telugu debut with Maya. This Telugu girl was born and raised in Bengaluru and has acted in a Kannada film too.

“That was when I was studying,” says Sushma, who has completed her degree in fashion designing. She used to participate in modelling and fashion designing  events, as part of her course when she was spotted by a Kannada filmmaker. “Actually I was not interested in acting then, but I got many offers after the film so I thought of taking up acting seriously,” says Sushma

After her Kannada film, once Sushma was in Hyderabad on some personal work and got a call from director Neelakanta. “I went for an audition and was selected immediately. Before the shooting, the director enrolled me in me a workshop to get into the skin of the character,” she says. The film is a thriller. “It’s a unique concept and I can’t reveal much about the film. Every character, and that includes me, has to perform well. The director actually extracted the performance from us. That’s Neelakanta sir’s specialty,” she says.

Sushma has been cast opposite Harshavardhan Rane. Before this film’s release, she got an offer from director Kumar Nagendra for his film Joru and was cast opposite Sundeep Kishan. The shooting for Joru has been completed and Sushma is now moving on to a Tamil film. She says, “They saw my portfolio and approached me. The film’s title is India Pakistan. I can’t reveal the story, only the title! But I can say that it is a good subject.”Sushma is now eagerly waiting for the release of her Telugu debut Maya. “I am waiting for the audience response. I will look for new films after completing the Tamil film as I don’t want to take on too many at a time,” she says.

Maya is directed by Anand and music director Vijay Antony is the lead actor in the film. “My mother is from Andhra and my father is settled in Bengaluru,” she says about her Telugu connection.