'Running around trees alone won't do'

Mamtha Mohandass will also be recording a series of songs for other projects. She’s been shooting for Gooli in namma Bengaluru for the past few days. And now she's off to Hyderabad for a Telugu film. In the middle of a hectic shooting schedule, Mamtha Mohandass will also be recording a series of songs for other projects. A sign of having arrived in the Tamil and Telugu industries? Or is it her recent Filmfare award for best playback singer that's working its magic?
"The award has come to me in the middle of a busy schedule; I've always had work flowing in.But yes, the award has definitely upped my confidence. Right now, I'm doing three films back-to-back , but I'm not complaining," says Mamtha.
An established heroine back home in Kerala, her second Telugu film, Yamadonga, has just released. "And the response has been extraordinary. It's a socio-fantasy film and I play a girl from Nellore. I had to learn so many new things, including the body language and slang of that region, because it's very different from the rest of Andhra," she explains.
The actress has also sung for the film and the music is a big hit. "I'm really thrilled because some people are watching the film only for the songs. One of the songs that Junior NTR and I have sung is a remixed version of an evergreen NTR hit. Fans love the song," she says.
Mamtha's also sung in the recent hit Shankardada Zindabad. "I owe it all to Devi Sri Prasad. He's the one who gave me my first hit song, Raakhi. And the minute we finished recording for Shankardada, we had this gut feeling that it was going to do well. So I said, 'Devi, I think even this will go the Raakhi way.' And it's such a rage now!" says the actress.
So how does she manage to juggle careers in singing and acting? "The pressure never gets to me because I love doing both. And I've mostly sung for my own films. I never felt it was difficult until I had to learn the cheppandi language! But now I've got the hang of it and am recording a song in less than two hours from the original eight hours," she says.
What's her take on the competition? "I'm bothered only about myself. And I believe in hard work. But yeah, you also want to become the best in your field even if it's only for a while," she says.
Any particular role she aspires to? "None. I only want heroine-friendly subjects. Running around trees alone won't do," she says. madhu.daithota@timesgroup .com