After having done a handful of films in Tamil, Samyuktha Viola Viswanathan is set to debut in Telugu as the female lead in Chari 111. Directed by T.G. Keerthi Kumar and produced by Aditi Soni, the spy thriller stars Vennela Kishore.
“It feels great to be part of a most happening industry like Tollywood,” Samyuktha says. “And I couldn’t have asked for a better launch than to debut in a spy thriller and that too with a substantial role.”
Samyuktha says she is not at liberty to talk about her role, but revealed that she has several action sequences.
Hers is an interesting journey. After she picked up ballet at the age four, she had to quit the dance form due to a ligament tear. She underwent a surgery while she was in college.
“But that did not stop me from practising ballet and Bharatanatyam and other dance forms,” she says, while sharing that she hasn’t completely recovered, and still feels pain.
While in college, Samyuktha used to actively participate in stage plays, and progressed to working in short films and ad commercials. She went on to do theatre. “Although initially I wasn’t keen on doing theatre, I realised the joy in performing arts, drama and acting. I pursued a MA in Performance Studies at the prestigious New York University,” she shares. The actress also did a one-year acting conservatory at Michael Howard Studios, apart from doing theatre plays in the US. She came to Chennai but was unable to go back to the US due to the pandemic. “I then turned my focus on films. I have done a web series and ad commercials too,” she says, adding that she had signed two films — Oh Manapenne and Jackson Durai.
Samyuktha feels her stint in the NYU gave her clarity on what she wanted to do. “It also helped me understand what a director wants. So the programme gave me a framework of how to prepare for any role, and taught me not to over-think, and how important it is to prep for characters.”
“You cannot lie to the camera,” says Samyuktha, who has found her true calling in films. While theatre is live, films are organised chaos,” she smiles, signing off.
