The ultimate glam doll of Telugu cinema, from being the woman who epitomised song-and-dance roles in Tollywood and being called 'Milky beauty' by her fans -- actress Tamannaah has come a long way. After surprising everybody with a de-glam avatar in SS Rajamouli's Baahubali, Tamannaah has now turned a leaf in her career. The actress has even dubbed her own voice for upcoming film Oopiri, the first time she has done that for a Telugu film.
"I don't want to be a heroine, I want to be an actor. I'm doing films where there's a challenge for me. For example, I'm currently doing a film with Prabhu Deva, which is a female-centric role and that gives me satisfaction," says Tamannaah.
For far too long, Tamannaah has been reduced to dance numbers and a couple of scenes thrown in here and there. South filmmakers have been obsessed with her navel and have indulged in ample-skin show to titillate the audience. But things are changing for Tamannaah, who's adamant not to go on a signing spree.
"Baahubali has changed things for me on the national scale. Many were surprised to see me in the warrior role. In fact, I had to convince a lot of people that Avantika was played by me. I think Baahubali made people see that there's much more to me," the actress observes.
Save for Oopiri, Tamannaah doesn't have many films lined up this Summer, unlike many of her peers. When asked if she's become more choosy after the success of Baahubali, she quips, "I don't even have time to fall sick, I'm so overburdened with work. I just finished Oopiri and since I had dubbed for it, it took me an year to do the film. I have also done a film called Dharma Durai in Tamil and I'm currently shooting for a film with Prabhu Deva, which is a trilingual film."
"Fortunately or unfortunately, I'm doing films that are mainly bilinguals or trilinguals, which are time-consuming films. With all due to respect to other actors, I don't want to do films where I have just 10 scenes -- I want to do something different. I may not talk about it but I'm doing a lot of work, and people may not realise it, but I'm doing films that are releasing in two or three different languages, which maybe other actors have not experienced. So naturally, these things take time and I'd rather do this than sign 10 films an year," she expresses, firmly.
And Tamannaah has taken up a similar challenge in Vamsi Paidipally's Tamil-Telugu bilingual Oopiri, having dubbed her own voice for the first time (for the Telugu version only).
"Everything in the film is very organic and natural and I felt it was the opportune time to dub my own voice. I don't want there to be a case where my voice is a negative to the film rather than a positive. But I have experience in the Telugu film industry and I was confident of saying my own dialogues without feeling out of place," shares the 26-year-old, while adding that she'd like to dub her own voice going forward, depending on how the audience react to Oopiri.
With an ensemble cast including Akkineni Nagarjuna, Karthi and Prakash Raj -- Tamannaah says Oopiri was an overwhelming experience.
"I play the PA (personal assistant) to a billionaire. My character is called Kirti, who is a well-educated, well-dressed, straightforward and stubborn girl. In a way, I play the bridge between the bromance that takes place between Karthi and Nagarjuna sir," Tamannaah smiles.
Tamanaah, who was previously seen in last year's masala entertainer Bengal Tiger, is all praise for her Oopiri co-star Karthi.
"He has matured a lot as an actor. He strikes a fine balance between being methodical and spontaneous. It was great fun to work with him," the actress gushes.
Tamannaah has often been linked to be a part of many projects, including Megastar Chiranjeevi's 150th film and a film with Tamil star Vijay.
"I don't know where you hear these stories. It's all a figment of your (media's) imagination. I'd like to make one thing clear -- If I'm doing a movie, then I will Tweet about it. So unless you don't hear it directly from me, then it's probably not true," she says, signing off.
Produced by PVP Cinemas, Oopiri will hit screens on March 25.