Showtime for Rukshar

After making her Sandalwood debut, this pretty lass is all set to enter our neighbouring industry — Tollywood. Twenty-three-year-old Rukshar is thrilled and understandably so, now that she has two Telugu releases lined up. The actress, who made Bengaluru her home when she was 14, gets chatty with us about her movies, ambitions and more….

Ask her about her Telugu flicks and she says, “Both of them are releasing this month. One movie is called Showtime — it’s an intense thriller, in which I play a mature character - I have a lot of screen space in it. As for the other one, Aakatayi, I play a college student who’s a girl-next-door. It’s a complete family entertainer — a mass flick.”

Previously, the actress has acted in Kannada films Katte and Run Antony. An exciting opportunity knocked on her door when she got a call about Showtime. “I was told that Baahubali director SS Rajamouli’s cousin SS Kanchi would be directing the film. I was nervous because of his background and experience, but when I auditioned, he was keen on casting me and discussed it with his family and team and then I was on board.”

For someone who moved to nammooru as a teen, Rukshar had an interesting upbringing. Born in London and mostly raised in Goa, she calls her move to Bengaluru ‘destiny’. Now that she's impeccably groomed, thanks to her profession, she confesses that she was never the kind who'd love to dress up.

“I hated it! We were looking at some old photos and we saw how my sister was always decked up and trying to look like the movie heroines, while I'd wear just about anything. I never believed in self-grooming,” she quips.

But that changed once she moved to an all girls’ school (Baldwins). “Out of nearly 400 girls, I won the title of ‘Miss Baldwins’, that's when I realised that if I put in an effort, I'd be able to dress well. Post that, I participated in Teen Diva, did ramp shows and took part in Miss Bangalore. After that, I did ads and even though I got movie offers, I waited till I finished my degree before I signed any,” says the artiste, who wants to play a variety of roles. “I'd love to play a historical character— like the ones in Sanjay Leela Bhansali films,” she says.

This T-Town newbie reveals that she’s open to working in any industry and language is not an obstacle. “All the industries are booming with good scripts. Hindi films are being remade in regional languages and vice-versa, so there’s really no barrier. My friends in Delhi couldn't get tickets for Kirik Party as they were sold out! So, at the end of the day, I just want to entertain the audience and do good-quality work.”