An interview with 'Chiguridha Kanasu' heroine

This innocent cute face has already appeared on big screen through Panchathanthram. But is new to Kannada. Yes we are talking about Vidhya Venkatesh - the heroine of Nagabharana's latest film Chiguridha Kanasu against hat trick hero Shivrajkumar. Though she hails from Chennai, her root was Mysore. In an extended conversation, Vidhya introduced herself expressing her nice experience during her Kannada debut. Excerpts:

Vidhya Venkatesh

Basically I am born and brought up in Tamilnadu but rooted at Mysore. I did B.A. Literature at Yathiraj College, Chennai. After graduation, I joined Sheraton group of Hotels. Was there for a while as a business executive and later got selected as an airhostess for Singapore Airlines. I spent two and half years in Singapore. Most of the time I was flying between Singapore and Russia. That helped me to see many different places of the world but became the routine. I wanted to do something more interesting than that.

As I like music, art and films, I went and met Mr. K.S. Ravikumar, the director of Punchathantram. He gave me an offer to act in Panchathanthram. This debut entry was like an examination for me, as I had to undergo screen tests and so on. I played the role of a Telugu lady in Punchathanthram. That was a beautiful experience working with that top class team. It was great fun both on and off the sets. How you get conned and how you get out of it is all about Punchathanthram - a fun filled film all the way. In between I did one more experimental film, which is not yet released.

I do modeling. My modeling coordinator put me onto Nagabharana and that's how I got into Kannada films unexpectedly. Apparently Raj family had to select me again. But I was not keen on doing Kannada projects then. Because I was in Tamil filmdom and just didn't know anything about this part of the world. When Raj banner selected me for the lead role and after hearing the story of Chigurida Kanasu, I could not say 'No'. I wondered am I that lucky! The production team, the crew, and the cast - everybody were so professional. Such a down to earth people. It's very nice to Vidhya Venkatesh

work with such a team and never felt like I'm a fish out of water, because of their friendliness. I enjoyed the work as it came and was an amazing experience. When the shooting reached the final day I was little sad to leave the team. I did my work. Lets hope, people accept the film!

There is no such dream role kind of thing in my life. Because when unexpected things like this, which is too good than whatever you dreamt of happens, then its like you have lost your balance. You dream of something and something better happens then you just can't ask for anything more. According to me this film is one such incident. I don't think it's too early to say this, because from the personal satisfaction point of view I feel so.

Hobby… hummm… reading, listening to music. I like sleeping whenever I get time. I like olden hero Shivajiganeshan. Later Kamal Hassan's days were started. In Bollywood I like Sharuk Khan movies.

It was pretty long by the time we fished our conversation with this all the way smiling girl. She spoke her heart and was thrilled to complete her Kannada debut. We at viggy.com wish Vidhya Venkatesh and Chigurida Kanasu crew all the very best. Based on Dr. Shivarama Karath's novel, this film is hitting the screen on October 2, 2003.