My Kannada has improved after Ishtakamya

Kavya Shetty has come a long way from studying engineering, to being a model and now having a career in Sandalwood. In her three-year stint in the film industry, she has already done films in Sandalwood and Kollywood. And now, what she describes as the biggest film in her career ' the

Nagathihalli Chandrashekar

directorial

Ishtakamya

, which also stars Vijay Suriya and Mayuri ' is up for release next week. In an interview with BT, Kavya talks about her experience of working with Nagathihalli, how the film helped her improve her

Kannada

, and what's on her film bucket list.

Tell us about what Ishtakamya is about...
The film is based on a 30-year novel (of the same name) by Dodderi Venkatagiri Rao. It's a drama that revolves around family ' mainly love relationships and marriage. It's not exactly like the book, but the main characters ' the two heroines and one hero ' are the same. The names have been changed, and so has the climax, but the whole story and the locations are from the book. The plot has been updated so that it's current.

And what's your role in it?
I play Rangayana Raghu's daughter. She's a girl from Malnad, who is very rich and pampered. It was fun playing this character because I'm not anything like her in real life. I haven't played a role like this before and I hope that people remember me for it. It's a well-written role, and I've done a lot for it in terms of my look and dialogue delivery.

Have you read the book on which the film is based?
Yes, I did. In the beginning, when I signed the film, Sir (Nagathihalli) gave me an actual print, though it wasn't in Kannada. The book is out of print right now, but Sir has sent it for republication. It will be in stores after the movie is out.



What drew you to the film?
One thing was definitely the chance to work with Sir because he's such a big director. Anyone would want to work with him. In fact, this is the most important movie of my career right now. Working with Sir is like going back to school. Also, I liked the story and my role a lot. Both heroines have equal importance and we play very contrasting roles.

What was it like working with Nagathihalli Chandrashekar?
It's been a great experience, and not just in terms of the technical aspect of working on a film with him. Yes, my Kannada has improved and I learnt a lot about the craft of acting, but I also imbibed so much personally. He's such a calm person, and I learnt so much from his discipline and the values he embraces.

There are reports that you spent 4-5 months training for Ishtakamya...
No, it wasn't as long as that. I was actually supposed to play a dancer in the film and was rehearsing for that, but then the role changed. I eventually ended up spending a lot of time working on my Kannada because Sir's Kannada is one level higher.

You've done a couple of Tamil films as well. How do you find working in more than one film industry?
I'm doing one film at a time, so schedule-wise, it's been OK. There are good technicians in all the southern film industries, so the only difficulty I face is with language. Kannada is easier for me to understand, but I have to work on my fluency for Tamil.

Many actresses sing for films these days, and even your director has sung for this film. Are you open to also becoming a playback singer?
(Laughs) I don't know. I don't consider myself a good singer, so not in the near future. But it's on my bucket list.