Interview

With one `Raat ka nasha' number in `Asoka', this bubbly, 18-year-old girl made many hearts skip a beat. Meet Gayatri, whose debut film in Telugu, `Aaduthu Paaduthu', is running successfully.

YOU MUST have seen her in the song Raat ka nasha with Shah Rukh Khan in Asoka. She also acted in Neela, an art film in Kannada, and a couple of Tamil films with Prabhudeva and Surya. Now, her debut film in Telugu, Aaduthu Paaduthu - directed by Devi Prasad and produced by C.V. Reddy - has made people turn around and take notice of her. Meet Gayatri Jayaram, the latest pretty woman to join the southern bandwagon. At 18, Gayatri is a self-driven young woman who has a brilliance of her own. The talented and beautiful actress shares her feelings in a tête-à-tête. Born in Mumbai and brought up in Chennai, Gayatri feels she was offered film roles on a platter. She completed her studies, was on the ramp for a few years, participated in the Femina Miss India 2000 with Lara and came fourth. She agrees that getting a break in Bollywood is quite difficult. "I've been there for one-and-a-half years and have seen people getting really desperate. The casting couch does exist . If you have got your head on your shoulders and know exactly what you are doing, nobody will take undue advantage of you," she says. Gayatri insists that she had not planned on a film career. "I was doing physiotherapy and wanted to work in a hospital, and here I am amidst the glam and glitz. I find it difficult to believe that I'm an actress now. I didn't believe I could act," she says. Gayatri's mother, Ms. Jayaram, adds, "Initially, we were a little hesitant. After her stint in modelling she got an offer to do a Tamil film from Arjun, but we refused. But now, after seeing her take so much interest and the amount of hard work she is putting in, we feel we should have allowed her to make her debut long back."

About her debut film in Kannada, Neela, which won awards, Gayatri, reveals, "It was an art film by director Nagabharana and I was lucky to co-star with Sarat babu and Jayanti. I played an adivasi girl who has cancer. . I really worked hard because I did not know the language. There was this fire scene and I got involved in a huge fire accident and lost all my hair." Apart from films, swimming is Gayatri's passion. She likes the city. "The city is not new to me. I was here for Miss India sub-events in 2000," she says. Perpetually smiling, this true Libran signs off, saying, "Live and let live", even while a myriad thoughts churn in her mind.