Amrita makes Tollywood debut

THE PETITE AMRITA RAO IS ALL SET FOR HER TOLLYWOOD DEBUT WITH

ATITHI, IN WHICH SHE STARS OPPOSITE MAHESH BABU.

THE ACTRESS TALKS ABOUT HER EXPERIENCE

A n excited Amrita Rao is keeping her fingers crossed for the release of her first Telugu film Atithi where she plays a college girl living life on her terms.

The actress says when director Surender Reddy approached her for the film, she couldn't say no as she was getting the opportunity to be in a film where the heroine's role was as significant as the hero's part.

This is not common, according to her, in the otherwise male dominated Telugu film industry.

Another reason for saying yes could be that it was her leading man Mahesh Babu's sister Manjula who introduced the actress to people from the industry.

But Amrita claims, "I saw Mahesh's films even before I ventured into Tollywood and I was impressed with his acting skills."

Actresses who are a flop in Bollywood usually land up in the South Indian film industry and often get very popular here.

What were Amrita's reasons for doing regional cinema when she still has offers from Bollywood in her kitty?

"It's destiny because this film was offered to me when all my other projects had been postponed. I am getting many offers from Tollywood now and I'll be happy to work for another project," she says.

Amrita was in town for nearly two months while shooting for Atithi and says she has taken a liking to the city and enjoys eating curd rice with a spicy tadka.

Does this mean she loves working here and has no complaints?

"The only difference between Bollywood and Telugu films is that here, I had early morning calls for shooting everyday.

By the end of the day I used to be really tired."

The actress doesn't find much difference between SRK who is the king of Bollywood and Mahesh Babu,

as Mahesh too finishes his shot in a single take, just like SRK.