Sitting with a group of children from Vidyarambham Trust and answering their innocent questions about herself and her role in Ramanujan, Malayalam actor Bhama seems to be enjoying her break on the sets of the biopic, in which she is cast opposite Abhinay Vaddi, the grandson of Gemini Ganesan.
She says, “This role is very exciting and the best part is the costume. Now, I am used to it,” she says, pointing to her nine-yard saree, draped in the traditional Iyengar style.
Playing Ramanujan’s wife Janakiammal in the bilingual production helmed by Gnana Rajesakaran, Bhama’s career graph has taken a new turn and the actor says that the role is exploring a new facet of her acting skills.
“The role demanded a lot of homework from me. There weren’t many references for me to understand Janakiammal. The way she looked or the person she was, is not known in detail. We had one photograph of hers and the production team met a lot of people who knew her to gather information on her,” she adds.
Bhama says that the character she plays has to show the innocence that embodied Janakiammal.
“Even my walk has to show the innocence. There is an immense scope for performance and that is exactly what I love about the role,” she adds.
Having made her debut in Malayalam film Nivedyam in 2007, when she had just completed her schooling, Bhama has forayed into Kannada films apart from dabbling in Telugu and Tamil films.
“Now, I am glad that I will make a mark in Tamil cinema, with this film. My presence in the Kannada industry is significant now,” she says.
However, she quickly adds that she is surprised by the number of films she has done in a short span of six years. “I never wanted to be an actor, in the first place. My first film was a coincidence and today I am having a foot in all the four South Indian languages,” she says