It is good to begin early, especially in a field which requires a talent to evolve and mature over time. And in the film industry, child artistes have always found a place of pampered comfort even though many fade away after the initial stardom. But with demand growing for realistic performers, irrespective of age, the current bunch of child artistes seems to be very grounded. One such artiste who is making heads turn on the sets of Mummy - Save Me is Yuvina Parthavi.
Just seven, she is sharing screen space with Priyanka Upendra in the film directed by H Lohith. She has already established herself in Tamil cinema with around eight films. Her performances in Ajith’s Veeram and Suriya’s Masss were well appreciated. On the sets of Mummy, Yuvina, who has taken a break from studies is in Bengaluru for the next 40 days to shoot for the film.
“I don’t know how I was selected for Mummy, but this is my second film in Kannada; the previous being Abhimanyu, a bilingual film directed by Arjun Sarja,” said Yuvina, who revealed that she is a child like any other and her parents choose her projects.
She has also been an anchor for a dance based reality show in Telugu. “I was anchoring the show Dance Baby Dance, which got over last month,” she said.Talking about balancing her studies while acting, Yuvina said, “I call my friends every day and ask about the classes. I write it all in my book and get updated. I do miss school sometimes, but I manage to catch up.”
Interestingly, the child actress, who has garnered a lot of attention with her performances likes acting but wants to be an astronaut.
She finds Bengaluru to be a ‘very cool place’. “I enjoy travelling to various places. I had been to Europe for Masss,” she said and revealed that Suriya, the hero of Masss addressed her as ‘Lipstick Rani’.
According to her director, Yuvina just cannot get away from her lipsticks.
“Priyanka’s character requires her to be sans any make-up. But before every shot, I have to check on Yuvina because she would always found wearing lipstick. She has developed a mindset that she should wear lipstick while shooting. She is very beauty conscious and keeps calling for the hairdressers and make-up artists. But it is very interesting to watch her on the sets,” Lohith said.
“Though she doesn’t know Kannada, she just needs a couple of minutes of dialogue practice and the third time, she delivers perfectly. She is indeed a gifted child. In fact, when her parents were listening to the story of Mummy, I saw her just playing around. In the end of the conversation, the child surprised me by saying ‘Papa, it seems like a Hollywood film’. She is so alert and bright. She is wise beyond her years,” he said.