Setting the record straight

After sharing screen space with Mahesh Babu in Aagadu, Tamannaah will be seen in a special song in Mahesh’s upcoming film, Sarileru Neekevavru. Apparently, the film’s director Anil Ravipudu, with whom she worked in her earlier film F2, was instrumental in getting Tamannah on board.

“After F2: Fun & Frustration Anil Sir was keen to collaborate with me again for Sarileru Neekevvaru and I said Yes. I guess when its dance I can never say No, and especially when the request comes from someone I truly respect and admire,” explains Tamannaah.

Describing the song, Tamannaah says, “I hope to fuse different dance forms since it’s one of the main promotional songs of the film.”

Elaborating, she said, “Mahesh and I are coming together after a really long time. He’s extremely professional and very humble.”

Expressing contentment with this phase of her career, she said  “The directors who worked with me in the past want to work with me again and that’s a humbling feeling.”

We asked the actress, who has been enthralling her audiences over the years, what she considers the biggest misconception people have about her. Here’s what she had to say. “There are a lot of misconceptions about me, to be honest. The most bizarre piece of news I read recently was that I was out of employment! There are other stories too, of me not having a bright future in Bollywood versus Tollywood. Just to clear the air, I’m working 365 days in a year and hence I can’t shuffle between multiple industries. I like to put in my 100% in whatever I do. Even if you have done 20 good films, you’re only as good as your last film. I want to make my mark on my own terms. The entertainment world is a highly competitive platform and there’s some new talent springing up every second day, so the key is to find your place and polish it every single day. For me, it is only about acting and not about the industry.”

The Abhinetri 2 actress stressed that she was passionate only about the silver screen and that stardom and riches were just the by-products of that passion.

“It just happened that luck favoured me better in the South than in Bollywood and I took up projects there; for me, language wasn’t a barrier, the only thing I wanted to do was work and excel,” she explains, adding, “My thirst for excellence had to be quenched and the South accepted me well. As an actor, I will always play my part with full dedication, but the results are not in my hands.”