New ‘pori’ on the block

Ulka Gupta, 17, a familiar face on TV, is now making her debut in Telugu films. The actress is playing the female lead in Andhra Pori opposite Puri Akash, son of director Puri Jagannath. Ulka is also playing the role of young Anushka in Rudhramadevi.

“Seeing the serial, the director approached me to play young Rudhramadevi. I had already trained in sword-fighting and horse riding for the serial. So I didn’t take any special training for this film,” she says.

While working on this historical film, Ulka was approached for the teenage love story Andhra Pori.

“I didn’t sign the film immediately as I didn’t know anything about the film industry. Later I got to know about the production house that belongs to LV Prasad. My father told me that he is a legend in the film industry and then gave a green signal,” says Ulka.

Talking about her co-star Puri Akash, she says, “After I signed the project I come to know that he is the son of a big director. But he never put on any airs and was always very disciplined. I was happy to learn that like me he too started as a child artiste. We traded Telugu and Hindi tips with each other,” says Ulka, who is currently in her first year of college and wants to focus on her studies.

Now, the actress is picking up Telugu. “I want to speak on my own in Telugu at the audio function which is coming soon,” she says and added, “I want to act opposite Mahesh Babu, Allu Arjun, Prabhas, Nithiin Reddy and Akhil Akkineni.”

“I met Allu Arjun at the last day shoot of Rudhramadevi. He complimented me by saying, ‘I heard that you are a good horse rider’,” she says. Her father Gagan Gupta is also an actor.