Kollywood’s new darling is from Blockhouse Bay
“I suppose it was just destined to happen,” says Blockhouse Bay girl Uttara Ramkumar whose lovely visage will hit the silver screen the world over come December.
This petite winner of the Miss India New Zealand 2008 pageant had absolutely no plans of embarking on a career in films. In May last year, JK Creations, a movie production house from Chennai in South India – the capital of Tamil movies also referred to as Kollywood – was in New Zealand auditioning for a fresh new female face to suit the role of an “NRI girl” for a film it was planning to shoot here.
The talent scouts from Chennai were unable to select any of the two-dozen or so candidates that auditioned and returned rather disappointed to Chennai. Uttara and her parents knew about the auditions but didn’t consider it. “It was never in our scheme of things,” says Uttara, who had her university studies to pursue.
Then the producer happened to chance upon a DVD of the Miss India New Zealand 2008 pageant in Chennai and was bowled over when he saw Uttara on the screen. He immediately got in touch with Uttara’s parents Anuradha and Ramkumar and the family began to mull over the offer.
Yet undecided, the family sent a set of photographs and a screen test shot at home back to Chennai. Yes, the director and the producers were interested.
Meanwhile the producers said they had decided to shoot the film in Melbourne, not here in New Zealand – which added another dimension to the family’s decision-making process, and for some time they decided to drop the idea.
But the production house and the director had impeccable credentials and the script was too good as a refreshing new idea. “Besides, the shooting schedule was a short one, spread over a couple of months,” says Uttara. “And it fitted in well with my university schedule, though it was hard being away for so long.”
The film’s director is K.R. Mathivanan, who has been associate director with the much acclaimed director Shankar and worked on the recent mega-blockbuster Sivaji, starring southern India’s biggest star – and reportedly India’s highest paid actor – Rajanikanth.
Uttara joins a long line of a previous generation of South Indian actresses who were accomplished Indian classical danseuses before they made their careers on the silver screen. Vyjayanthimala and Hema Malini are only two of them. Uttara, too, has carved a niche for herself in New Zealand as an accomplished Bharata Natyam dancer having performed at several places. A product of her mother’s popular home-based dance school, Uttara had her Arangetram a few years ago in Auckland.
Has her training in traditional dance come in handy for her new career in front of the camera? “It certainly has,” says Uttara. “There is a lot of Abhinaya (emoting) involved while portraying characters in many dance sequences; we play the roles of several characters – so that helped.”
Uttara has had a fair share of dance sequences in the film. “I enjoyed it and my training really helped,” she says.
But dance is a live performing art and a continuous, unbroken performance unlike acting in a film, which is sliced and diced into dozens of shots even for a single scene. “In that sense I was a little lucky,” replies Uttara. “Most of the shots for scenes in the film were quite long and I was quite comfortable doing them because much of my dialogue delivery was continuous.”
And was she comfortable speaking the language? “My Tamil had a bit of a Kiwi accent,” she laughs. “But I was playing an NRI girl, so I guess it sounds authentic for the role. I’m more at home with Telugu, which is my mother’s language, and of course Hindi.” She got acting lessons pretty much on the fly from the film’s experienced crew and director before and in between shots.
The film titled “Aridhu, Aridhu” – which means “very rare” is a variation on the boy-meets-girl theme. It’s about a Chennai boy who lands up in Melbourne because of a set of interesting circumstances and meets the girl that Uttara plays.
“Unfortunately, I’m not at liberty to reveal the detailed story, but I can tell you it’s very different, interesting and very, very intriguing,” she says of the film which besides being a love story has its fair share of action. “But importantly, it has a strong social message,” she adds.
Sai Thaman, the fast rising star of Southern India’s music world, has written the film’s score. He shot to fame with the recent Telugu hit titled “Kick” which has become a blockbuster largely because of its music. Aridhu Aridhu’s music is due for release some time this month. “There are quite a few songs and they’re fantastic,” Uttara says.
Uttara’s “discovery” has been splashed across the film glossies in both Kollywood and neighbouring Tollywood (the Andhra Pradesh film industry) including the redoubtable Tamil magazine Ananda Vikatan. And even before the film has hit the theatres, she already has three firm offers with one schedule already drawn up. “It’s all happening way too fast,” says Uttara.
With Kollywood firmly in her grasp, Bollywood is a mere hop, skip and jump away. Are the young actor’s sights on Mumbai’s bright arc lights yet? “Of course,” she gushes. “Which Indian girl doesn’t dream of a career in Bollywood?”
Though she loves Auckland and being at home with her parents – especially her mother whom she credits with all her success so far – Uttara realises she will have to spend more time away in coming months. “I will have to spend quite a lot of time in India in the run up to the release,” she says.
Does she have a message for young Kiwi Indians on their paths to achievement? “Just believe in yourself and follow your heart with a sensible plan,” she says. Way to go, Uttara!
“I suppose it was just destined to happen,” says Blockhouse Bay girl Uttara Ramkumar whose lovely visage will hit the silver screen the world over come December. This petite winner of the Miss India New Zealand 2008 pageant had absolutely no plans of embarking on a career in films. In May last...
“I suppose it was just destined to happen,” says Blockhouse Bay girl Uttara Ramkumar whose lovely visage will hit the silver screen the world over come December.
This petite winner of the Miss India New Zealand 2008 pageant had absolutely no plans of embarking on a career in films. In May last year, JK Creations, a movie production house from Chennai in South India – the capital of Tamil movies also referred to as Kollywood – was in New Zealand auditioning for a fresh new female face to suit the role of an “NRI girl” for a film it was planning to shoot here.
The talent scouts from Chennai were unable to select any of the two-dozen or so candidates that auditioned and returned rather disappointed to Chennai. Uttara and her parents knew about the auditions but didn’t consider it. “It was never in our scheme of things,” says Uttara, who had her university studies to pursue.
Then the producer happened to chance upon a DVD of the Miss India New Zealand 2008 pageant in Chennai and was bowled over when he saw Uttara on the screen. He immediately got in touch with Uttara’s parents Anuradha and Ramkumar and the family began to mull over the offer.
Yet undecided, the family sent a set of photographs and a screen test shot at home back to Chennai. Yes, the director and the producers were interested.
Meanwhile the producers said they had decided to shoot the film in Melbourne, not here in New Zealand – which added another dimension to the family’s decision-making process, and for some time they decided to drop the idea.
But the production house and the director had impeccable credentials and the script was too good as a refreshing new idea. “Besides, the shooting schedule was a short one, spread over a couple of months,” says Uttara. “And it fitted in well with my university schedule, though it was hard being away for so long.”
The film’s director is K.R. Mathivanan, who has been associate director with the much acclaimed director Shankar and worked on the recent mega-blockbuster Sivaji, starring southern India’s biggest star – and reportedly India’s highest paid actor – Rajanikanth.
Uttara joins a long line of a previous generation of South Indian actresses who were accomplished Indian classical danseuses before they made their careers on the silver screen. Vyjayanthimala and Hema Malini are only two of them. Uttara, too, has carved a niche for herself in New Zealand as an accomplished Bharata Natyam dancer having performed at several places. A product of her mother’s popular home-based dance school, Uttara had her Arangetram a few years ago in Auckland.
Has her training in traditional dance come in handy for her new career in front of the camera? “It certainly has,” says Uttara. “There is a lot of Abhinaya (emoting) involved while portraying characters in many dance sequences; we play the roles of several characters – so that helped.”
Uttara has had a fair share of dance sequences in the film. “I enjoyed it and my training really helped,” she says.
But dance is a live performing art and a continuous, unbroken performance unlike acting in a film, which is sliced and diced into dozens of shots even for a single scene. “In that sense I was a little lucky,” replies Uttara. “Most of the shots for scenes in the film were quite long and I was quite comfortable doing them because much of my dialogue delivery was continuous.”
And was she comfortable speaking the language? “My Tamil had a bit of a Kiwi accent,” she laughs. “But I was playing an NRI girl, so I guess it sounds authentic for the role. I’m more at home with Telugu, which is my mother’s language, and of course Hindi.” She got acting lessons pretty much on the fly from the film’s experienced crew and director before and in between shots.
The film titled “Aridhu, Aridhu” – which means “very rare” is a variation on the boy-meets-girl theme. It’s about a Chennai boy who lands up in Melbourne because of a set of interesting circumstances and meets the girl that Uttara plays.
“Unfortunately, I’m not at liberty to reveal the detailed story, but I can tell you it’s very different, interesting and very, very intriguing,” she says of the film which besides being a love story has its fair share of action. “But importantly, it has a strong social message,” she adds.
Sai Thaman, the fast rising star of Southern India’s music world, has written the film’s score. He shot to fame with the recent Telugu hit titled “Kick” which has become a blockbuster largely because of its music. Aridhu Aridhu’s music is due for release some time this month. “There are quite a few songs and they’re fantastic,” Uttara says.
Uttara’s “discovery” has been splashed across the film glossies in both Kollywood and neighbouring Tollywood (the Andhra Pradesh film industry) including the redoubtable Tamil magazine Ananda Vikatan. And even before the film has hit the theatres, she already has three firm offers with one schedule already drawn up. “It’s all happening way too fast,” says Uttara.
With Kollywood firmly in her grasp, Bollywood is a mere hop, skip and jump away. Are the young actor’s sights on Mumbai’s bright arc lights yet? “Of course,” she gushes. “Which Indian girl doesn’t dream of a career in Bollywood?”
Though she loves Auckland and being at home with her parents – especially her mother whom she credits with all her success so far – Uttara realises she will have to spend more time away in coming months. “I will have to spend quite a lot of time in India in the run up to the release,” she says.
Does she have a message for young Kiwi Indians on their paths to achievement? “Just believe in yourself and follow your heart with a sensible plan,” she says. Way to go, Uttara!
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