With her charming smile and girl-next door looks, Richa Pallod can breathe freshness into any character with elan. In the city for the Dhanwanthri cosmetic division shoot, Richa speaks about her dreams and future projects.
It has been a roller-coaster ride for this model-turned-actress in the film industry. But she is determined to turn the wheel of fortune in her favour by making the right choices. With a slew of ads and Hema Malini’s home production ‘Tell Me Oh Khuda,’ in which she plays Vinod Khanna’s daughter, up for release, her hands are full. “Esha Deol plays an important role in the film. Esha and I have been friends since we went to the same school, Jamnabai Narsee School,” Richa says.
It was her debut in the movie ‘Daddy Cool’ (as Mammootty’s heroine) that made Malayalis take note of her. “I did the movie ‘Daddy Cool’ just because of Mammootty. He is such a great actor and when I was offered the role opposite him, I accepted it without second thoughts,” she says.
Richa says acting in a Malayalam movie was a different experience altogether. “I was asked to tone down my expressions because Malayalam movies require real acting.” Richa says she is tired of running around trees and would like to do some meaty roles.
Her tryst with the entertainment industry started at 16. “Initially, I wanted to be behind the camera and worked as an assistant director in ad films. I was always active as a theatre artist and dancer but modelling offers came quite unexpectedly. Soon I made my entry into films,” says the actor who has done not less than 200 ads and has acted in Tamil, Telugu and Hindi movies.
Has dance helped her as an actress? “Yes,” says Richa. “I have not attended any acting classes. But I’m passionate about dance. It requires a certain body language and a lot of expressions.” But now she is hardly getting time to practise dance and is more focused on her modelling and acting careers.
Her films in Tamil include ‘Something Something’, ‘Unakkum Enakkum’, ‘Shahjahan’ and more. She won the Filmfare Telugu Award for Best Actress for her performance in the movie ‘Nuvve Kavali’.
But it was not a smooth ride for this pretty damsel in Bollywood. She acted in ‘Kuch Tum Kaho Kuch Hum Kahein’ and a few more without much luck. She says she did the role in ‘Nikki ‘n’ Neil’ as it was a Yash Raj Film. But she admits she did the role without giving it much thought.
So does she think Bollywood is only for star daughters and sons? “I won’t be fair if I say that. Deepika and Vidya Balan are top actresses in Bollywood and they don’t have a film background. I think I should be more choosy. Luck is also a major factor,” says Richa who is now looking for character-driven roles. “But it need not necessarily be a social subject,” she clarifies. She got offers from Malayalam after ‘Daddy Cool’. “But it was that of a rural girl and I did not take it up because I am a city girl and it would have been difficult for me to portray a village belle,” she says.
The actress is now busy with commercials and is also dubbing for international English films into Hindi, the recent ones being ‘2012’ ,The Sorcerer’s Apprentice’, ‘Tinkerbell’ and many more animation movies.
Richa believes that to sustain in the film industry you need luck as well as talent. “It is a mix. At the same time you should enjoy what you do,” says Richa. We wish her luck!
Her modelling assignments in Kerala are managed by Lukmance Model Management. For details contact 99954 33307.
manuvipin@expressbuzz.com