'I'm thrilled about bagging a casanova'

So what if she hasn’t exactly been hotting up the charts in Sandalwood? It’s better late than never, right? And looks like Sanjjanaa has finally struck gold, what with her having scored a film titled Casanova in which she stars alongside Kerala’s demigod, Mohanlal. “It’s along the lines of Bachna Ae Haseeno and there are three girls in the film, including Shriya Saran, Lakshmi Rai and myself,” she tells us.
Sanjjanna adds that even though director Roshan Andrews didn’t exactly tell her it’s a Bachna... clone, that’s the feeling she got when the script was narrated to her. “Mohanlal essays this playboy and we three girls are vying for his attention. I play a hit salsa dancer and my character is like Bipasha Basu’s in Bachna..., she’s really strong and Roshan told me he’ll infuse a lot of life into my role. In fact, my role is more prominent than Shriya’s and Lakshmi’s,” she claims.
But Shriya is a big name and Lakshmi has gained a firm footing in Malayalam films of late. No insecurities there? “I asked Roshan the same question because I also had my doubts. But he told me to hold my own and that I’d do fine,” explains Sanjjanaa.
Besides, “It’s a big-budget movie and probably one of the biggest in Mohanlal’s career itself,” she asserts, adding that she’ll be off to Dubai to start filming Casanova. “I’m happy about having bagged this film. How many heroines, costume changes or songs there are in the film didn’t matter to me. The visibility I’ll get with this flick is incomparable,” she says.
The girl also has set her sights on making it big in Tollywood. “I’m doing the sequel to the film Operation Duryodhana, titled Dushyasana. It once again stars Srikant. I’m playing a solo lead and that is a big deal,” she states.
But things aren’t as rosy for her on home turf. Sanjjanaahasn’t been able to crack the code to scoring a hit film. “Yes, things have been going a tad slow for me in Kannada. I haven’t been as lucky as in Kannada as I have been in other languages. And my directors tell me that the market for heroines is really small.
They’ve also advised me that I should just concentrate on other languages where I’ve seen success rather than struggle here,” she confesses.
And while the actress concedes that it’s a practical choice — “Most heroines camouflage or hide their desire to make it big there” — Sanjjanaa adds that she’d also like to make a mark in Sandalwood.
“When I step out of my house I definitely want to be recognised. And doing Kannada films is important for me,” she wraps up.
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