Resolute 'Raod' to success

Her earlier film Katte directed by her father, the popular Kannada film director N Omprakash Rao, released two years ago. Since then she has been relentlessly working on atleast five back-to-back films including her debut Telugu film Vaanavillu and her much-awaited Kannada film Dada is Back is finally hitting the screens. Shravya Rao, the daughter Omprakash Rao and Rekha Das is among the popular breed of actresses mostly seen in supporting roles. Today, Shravya is excited not just about Dada is Back but also about her Telugu debut movie releasing in August. Shravya talks about realising her dream of becoming an actress, the high and lows in her short career, her future goals and talks about her filmy parents.

“Though my last film release was two years ago, I have been busy around-the-clock with atleast five films including my debut film in Telugu. I am glad though that for some reason, the delay in the release of my films did not hamper my opportunities to work in other good projects. Technical and other issues kept delaying the releases, and if everything goes according to plan, I have at least three to four films releasing this year. The year 2017 will be a great year. I had a wonderful year shooting for films, and most importantly, I learnt to refine my acting skills,” says Shravya Rao.

Apart from Dada is Back, Vaanavillu, her Telugu film, she has been shooting for Nanjundi Kalyana and Nagarakatte. In Dada is Back which is directed by Santhosh, she plays the character of a strong-willed woman who works in the postal department. The subject revolves around gang wars, and also marks the debut venture of Tamil actor-director Partheipan.

“This is my fourth film in Kannada, and despite a couple of them failing to do well at the box office, I have been working hard to prove to myself so I can do better future projects. However, the failures have not stopped people from believing in me. My motto is overall improvement. Apart from performing, I have been careful about my roles as well. I have worked a lot on my looks  — physical fitness and training, and other aspects,” says Shravya, adding that she was clueless about how she got her Telugu venture.

“One fine day while I was shooting, I got a call about this Telugu film. I could have ignored it due to the many random calls I get from unknown people. However, I gave it a try and was amazed that I was being offered a meaty role as a daring journalist. I later came to know that the film team had seen my earlier work and were impressed with my acting. I could not have asked for more while debuting in Telugu and the crew showed great faith in a newcomer for such a demanding role,” she recalls. She even learned the language, and later dubbed her voice for Vaanavillu. While she had always wanted to become an actress, her parents showed faith in her and helped her realise her dreams.

“I am truly blessed to have such great talents as my parents. For me, my father is one of the greatest technicians. He knows how to extract the right amount of talent from an artiste and is at the pulse of new-age film making. My mother has been an inspiration as well. I started on the small screen with the serial Krishna Rukmini, and eventually took up films. It was always tough as the expectations riding on me as the daughter of renowned parents in the industry was always high,” she says. The B. Pharma graduate reveals that if the reel had not clicked, she would have become a doctor.