Kollywood actress Abhinaya’s big Bollywood debut

Things can’t get better for actress Abhinaya who is foraying into Bollywood with director Balki’s next, Shamitabh. The movie has an ensemble of Amitabh Bachchan, Dhanush and Akshara Haasan, who is being launched as the lead heroine.

Abhinaya’s cameo in the Tamil film Veeram got her noticed in Bollywood, and gave her an entry into Shamitabh’s star-studded cast. Her father, Anand, says, “One of the assistant directors who worked in Veeram had suggested Abhinaya’s name to Balki. After seeing the film, Balki was impressed and brought her on board  for Shamitabh.”

Dhanush plays a deaf and mute junior artiste in the movie and Big B has lent his voice to him. But Anand is evasive when asked if Abhinaya was cast opposite Dhanush in the film. He says that he cannot reveal any details about Abhinaya’s character. “It is a very vital role and a noticeable one. I am confident that this will open new avenues for Abhinaya in Mumbai,” he says. Abhinaya shot for four days in Mumbai with Dhanush and Akshara.

“The whole unit, especially Balki sir, was happy to see Abhinaya’s performance. They were in awe of her talent,” he says. Abhinaya, in turn, is glad that director Balki looks out for talent in all of his films, and is proud to be introduced to Bollywood by him.

She was introduced to the Tamil film industry by Sasikumar in the film he produced, Nadodigal, which was directed by Samudrakani. Despite her speech and hearing impairment, she won critical acclaim for her performance, which eventually led to her innings in Tollywood, with the remake, Shambo Shiva Shambo and in Kannada with Hudugaru. And ever since then has gone on to work in many other Telugu films.

She currently has four Tamil films in hand, including Vizhithiru and Vishal’s Poojai and a few Telugu films.