‘I never wanted to be an actor, now I don’t want to be anywhere else’

Latha Hegde says Kannada debut Athiratha is special.  Censors clear Mahesh Babu directorial with U/A rating

Latha Hegde, a resident of Auckland, is new to Sandalwood. The debutante is anxiously awaiting November 24, the date on which her first Kannada film Athiratha will be released. The film directed by Mahesh Babu has her paired opposite Chetan.

Latha Hegde
Latha Hegde

The actress is no stranger to acting; she has acted in a Telugu movie and will be out with her Tamil debut soon. However, Kannada is special because it is her mother tongue. Latha, who had to head back to Auckland to attend to an emergency, spoke to City Express over the phone. “My mother is unwell, so I had rush back,” she said, adding, “I hope to head back before the release date”.

"Athiratha was a turning point in my life,” said Latha. "Coming from far away, I found Bengaluru to be like home. Though I reside in New Zealand, my family has roots here and we still live by this culture. This film is also special because I got to dub for it."
In this movie, she plays an NRI journalist.

Today, she is shuttling between two countries and is getting used to it. "If you had asked me if I am coping well with this a year ago, I would have said 'no',” she said. “I never wanted to be an actress and wanted to do something more meaningful like working with an animal welfare organisation. I participated in a beauty paegent to pass time and I got noticed. I wasn't even sure if I wanted to continue acting, but eventually 'lights, camera, action' and I became good friends. I started to enjoy the process. Now, this is a profession I choose to be in.”

Process of working in all three languages is nearly the same, she said, but working in Sandalwood helped her stay with her family.”The first time actress did have a complaint too and it had to do with timing. She said, "Delays and not keeping the time is very common in the Indian film industry, and this actually shocked me. In New Zealand, people are particular about punctuality and I had got used to that. So, at times, I get irritated to see people being laid-back about this," she said.

The actress, even before her debut release, has signed on her second Sandalwood project Ananuthu v/s Nusrath starring Vinay Rajkumar. The film directed Sudheer is currently being shot. She said, "I had to be with my mother and my schedule got jumbled up. The director is aware of my emergency and hopes that we can sort out the dates.”

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