She has everything going her way — the right looks and attitude, is a complete professional, disciplined and above all, she has made the right choice of films. All her forthcoming films are with young heroes —Surya (Ayan), Dhanush (Padikathavan), Bharath (Raja Rani), Karthi (Paiyya) and Siddharth (Ananda Thandavam) and a big Telugu film with Boys Siddharth (Koncham Ishtam Koncham Kashtam).
During the last year, she had no releases, but things seem to be looking up for the actress as she will have more films than her rivals. Suddenly, Tammu, as she is affectionately called by her friends and folks, has become hot property in the south Indian advertising endorsement market, after Asin took the aerial route to Mumbai. At the moment, the 19-year-old from Lokhandwala in Andheri, Mumbai, is the highest paid actress in Tamil cinema, without a single hit to her credit!
When asked about her phenomenal rise in Kollywood, without any releases in 2008, Tamannaah says, “Two of my 2007 December releases —Shekhar Kammula’s Happy Days in Telugu and Balaji Sakthivel’s Kalloori in Tamil, were path breaking films that received critical acclaim. Both were performance-oriented roles and the audience loved my characters. I am eternally grateful to Sekhar sir and Balaji sir, two people who moulded me as an actress.”
How has she managed so many films that are coming up for release this year? The actress says, “At least two of them, Ananda Thandavam and Padikkathavan, were due for release last year, but were delayed because of technical reasons.” So, this year she will have six releases spread over eight months.
On her choice of films, Tamannaah is very clear. “What counts is the script, director, hero and the banner. The director should be able to give me a good narration of the script and a good role. The story of Lingusamy’s Paiyya was narrated to me in three hours. If I am attracted to the story, I try to squeeze my dates for the film.” About doing too many love stories, she replies, “Ayan is an action film and Padikathavan is a rip-roaring comedy. I try my best to do all genres of movies.” She says that it’s her aim to dub in her own voice by the end of the year. “I’m trying to learn the language and also picking up many words when on the sets where everybody talks in Tamil. In fact, I heard the entire script narration of Paiyya in Tamil,” says the actress, who is a keen observer.
About the talk that she is charging a bomb, without actually having a hit, she says, “In this industry, you get what you deserve. It is all a question of demand and my producers feel I’m worth it. If not, they will not pay me so much.” The fringe benefit of stardom, according to her, is travel. “Last year, I went to the US, Switzerland, South Africa, Malaysia, Singapore and Namibia,” she says.
On why she avoids parties and has no link-ups, Tammu says, “I work 24X7 trying to finish my films, and I love to read and browse the Internet during my free time. As far as love is concerned, I’m yet to meet the right guy. Love is unpredictable and can happen to anybody anytime.”
The young star is very religious and visits temples (her favourite being Vaishnodevi) and believes in numerology.
Her luck changed after she added an extra ‘a’ and ‘n’ to her name. Her most prized possession, at the moment, is her ultra-thin Apple-MacBook which she got as a gift from her brother on her 19th birthday.
2009 is going to be a momentous year for Tammu and if all goes well, she may become the new ‘numero uno’ in Kollywood.
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