I’ve lost 14 Kilos: Svelte Smita,

She comes across as a happy-go-lucky girl, but the look is deceptive we realise half way through the conversation.
Meet Smita of Hairabba and Masaka Masaka fame, the only Telugu pop icon who's got six albums to her credit, 200 concerts in 8 countries and 75 playback songs. Besides her ability to sing in six languages, Smita is also a businesswoman ������ she runs a travel agency, beauty and fitness centres and is now producing a reality dance show for a TV channel.Hyd Times caught up with her at her salsa practice session, even as she pirouetted, leaped and did a perfect split.
Excerpts from an interview
Your talent as a singer was recognised through a reality show Padutha Theeyaga, and now you are back to reality TV as a producer. Do you think it's a good time to cash in on the trend?
Padutha Theeyaga did give me recognition, but to get to this position I had to work hard. There were days when I slept for just two hours or stayed awake 3 days in a row! Even now, I sleep just five hours a day. Coming to reality shows, I agree that almost every channel has one, but my intention was never to make money at the cost of others' lives.
So, how different is your show?
If you had been following the show you might have noticed how raw the participants were at the beginning and how well-groomed they are now. Everything from nutrition to beauty treatments was taken care of. They have been trained by professionals in Kathak, Kuchipudi, Odissi, Salsa, Belly dancing (we had a Brazilian flown in) and weapon dancing.
You have succeeded in the pop genre in Telugu. Was it tough?
Nothing came to me easy. I worked for it. I am a conservative girl from Vijayawada and I had to face subtle putdowns and had to change my outlook and style ������ for the music album Smita, I had to work out. I lost 14 kilos. I worked out 5 hours a day. I think my energy and determination have been the key to my success. It's partly genes as I come from a family of dynamic women. My grandmother Tella Lakshmi Kanthamma was an MLA for 30 years. My mom is a dynamic woman and is into a lot of businesses.
How have you fared in the North. What was the experience like?
Choreographer Bosco Caesar of Race and Welcome fame choreographed for us. He treated me like family and that made things easy. Although Smita did well, video piracy has eaten into our sales. Nowadays music can be downloaded off the internet, I think the government should do something about this because making a music album is an expensive affair.
After playing a negative role in Malleswari, are you planning to do more films? What are your future plans?
No more films for me please. Right now I want to build a dance troupe of my own and some of the participants of the reality show will be with me. I am also planning a world tour with my troupe in 2009.
On a parting note, are you still 'good friends' with Allari Naresh?
(Laughs loudly) Yes, we are still good friends. He is my Raakhi brother, I call him anna. I guess people have been talking about us after spotting us together at the Chilkur Balaji temple.