New heroine on the block

Amirtha is the new addition to the league of Tamil-speaking heroines in Kollywood. The model-turned-actor is making her debut in director Dhana’s Padai Veeran, which has Vijay Yesudas and iconic filmmaker Bharathiraja in lead roles.

The newcomer, who plays a bold village girl in the film, says, “I bagged the role because of the short film Irai. Dhana sir liked my performance in the film and asked me to take the audition. Things went well from then.”

Before venturing into films, Amirtha did modelling for a while — acting was never her career aspiration. Born in Chennai and brought up in Bengaluru, she is pretty fluent in both Kannada and Tamil.

Talking about her co-actors and the director, she says, “As a co-actor, Vijay Yesudas sir was very kind and that’s what a newcomer like me, who gets nervous on the sets, needs. It was also very comfortable to work with Dhana sir because he himself enacts every scene and explains how to emote.”

Bharathiraja also was in appreciation of the actress’s performance, “We didn’t get to talk to each other much since we didn’t have many combination scenes. But I heard from my director that Bharathiraja sir told him that I have done a commendable job in the film,” she quips. Amirtha has also signed another project but feels it is too early to announce it now.