Housefull of hits

Pooja Hegde, the actress who has won the hearts of Indian film audience in a very short span of her career is back again with her charm as the lead actress in the recent hit film 'Maharshi' with Mahesh Babu. The actress who has worked in both Telugu and Hindi film industry talks about her experiences.

Tell us about what attracted you to your role in the movie 'Maharshi'.

The character that I played is like a town girl who is very innocent; there are two looks in the film that I played - one is like a college girl which is during the flashback of the film; another is a more mature look of an office-going girl.

I think I had an impactful enough role. The story is not about the girl - it is about Rishi. The director tried to talk about success in family, love and friendship. .

Is your career progressing according to your expectations?

Of course, beyond that I would say. There are so many films that have come my way and they all have done well.

In a short amount of time, this is my third film that has crossed one million dollar mark.

So, all these are accolades picked for me and I would still say it has just began and with all the God's grace and blessing it is going great for now.

How is it working with the Bollywood's 'Housefull' team? Will the audience get to see anything new this time?

It was a mad house, it was hilarious and lot of fun. You are going to see a lot of new stuff and I am super excited for the film. The film is about reincarnation; trust me it would be one of the best 'Housefull' sequels.

Did you feel nervous anytime working with big actors?

To be honest I have been doing this for too long now; I am always opposite a big star.

Like once when I was working with Hrithik Roshan I was a little nervous; but I think my nervousness lasts for the first one hour and I get into the scene as I want to do it really well. I think I am getting better at it.

Do you see yourselves work in any of the web series?

Never say never, let's see what comes up at the end of the day. As an actor if something excites me, I will do it.

It is as simple as that. Today even Will Smith has done content for web, so you never know.

You have been working with stars like NTR, Mahesh Babu, Allu Arjun… etc. So, who was more fun to work with?

I think Allu Arjun was fun to work with, Tarak is also fun-loving, he is a real person, he is who he is and that is very refreshing.

Prabhas is also amazing; my next film is with him. Mahesh gives out a witty one-line punch, which is funny.

How did you manage to cope up with Telugu language?

I am Mangalorian, but I was born and brought up in Bombay. Telugu is a very different language compared to what we speak, but I think because of the lines in the films, I kind of started to understand Telugu and also speak a little.

For 'Aravinda Sametha', I dubbed for myself. So, I am managing, I think when you want to work, you work harder and I think it is part of the job profile

What difference do you find in Tamil and Telugu movies?

I don't find so much of a difference; Also, I wouldn't able to tell much because I have done only one film in Tamil.

Overall, I feel it is the same, be it Hindi or Telugu. People are people anywhere in the world; they always behave and respond in a particular way.

Except for the language there hasnt been much of a difference.

What do you do in your free time?

Nowadays, I don't have free time. There were times I was shooting four films at a time and I had days when I was shooting three shifts in a day.

So people are telling me that I have become like the yesteryear heroines, who used to do three shifts a day like Amaitab ji, Mithun ji and Hemamalini.

So my life has become like that and there is no free time and if I have some time, I utilize it for my sleep as I require the beauty sleep in order to work.

Tell us about your upcoming projects

Well, I have 'Housefull', which will be releasing this Diwali and I have a film with Prabhas for which we are shooting right now and it would mostly release at the end of the year or next year.