Talented Rukmini Vasanth in reel life

A graduate from the renowned Royal Academy of Dramatic Arts (RADA) in Bloomsbury, London, she started with theatre at the tender age of just 10. Apart from starring in several plays, she has been part of the Silent Front written by her parents, which is close to her heart. That apart, her recent roles also include her performance across the nation in Disney’s Aladdin. Her father  Col Vasanth Venugopal is the first recipient of the coveted national award Ashoka Chakra from Karnataka, and her mother Subhashini Vasanth is a renowned Bharatanatyam dancer. As she makes her debut in movies with Sandalwood’s first-ever trilogy Birbal, written, directed and even featuring MG Srinivas in the lead, the talented actress Rukmini Vasanth speaks exclusively to Bengaluru Chronicle, all about her debut venture and much more. 

“I started doing theatre when I was 10 years old. I grew up in a family where almost everyone was passionate about art, and that had a huge influence on me. I was exposed to various forms of art at an early age which obviously led me to embrace it as my career. I had been wanting to do movies for sometime now, and this is when I came across Birbal, for which I auditioned. The audition process for the film itself was a tremendous experience. It went on for four hours, but for me the clinching factor to take up Birbal was when director Srinivas narrated the story to my mother and me. It was very engaging and gripping,” says Rukmini.

Also, the fact that Birbal is Sandalwood’s first-ever trilogy to hit the screens, the actress shares that it is an interesting tale, a legal thriller where she portrays the role of advocate Jhanvi Bhargav.

“The female character has greater relevance in the tale. I never wanted to be a part of a venture which undermines the role of a female protagonist with just a few scenes, or just limited to songs. Despite being a theatre artiste for over a decade, I had a great experience shooting for the movie, which is entirely a different mode of entertainment wherein the camera dictates an artist when performing,” he adds.

Her father Col Vasanth Venugopal, was the commanding officer of the 9th battalion, Maratha Light Infantry. “In 2007, he was killed in action while preventing heavily armed infiltrators from crossing the India-Pakistan border at Uri, Jammu and Kashmir. He along with my mother had written the play Silent Front, which is one of my first plays,” she shares. Her father is the first officer from the state of Karnataka who was posthumously awarded the Ashoka Chakra, India’s highest military decoration for peacetime gallantry.

“As the daughter of an Army officer, I along with my sister grew up in various places across the nation. With such an exciting upbringing, it taught me to adopt to various aspects in life. I have a great fondness for the Army way of living. It taught me the importance of values when it comes to work,” says Rukmini.

While learning the art of facing the camera, the actress who pursued her 12th from Cambridge Centre for Learning in the city, and then heading to RADA, also learnt dance and communication as a primary interest which involves writing and painting when ever she gets the time.