The dreams of this actor-cum-scientist, Vidya Pradeep are varied. One minute the PhD holder dreams of a breakthrough in a stem-cell research at a hospital in Chennai, the next minute she wants to excel while facing the arclights.
A typical example of beauty with brains, Vidya, who has established herself in Tamil and Malayalam, will now be making her mark in Kannada in the Shivarajkumar-starrer Bangaara S/o Bangarada Manushya. "I am really glad that my debut in Kannada is with Shivarajkumar and the film has a good subject," says the pretty girl, who also told us that she is going to finalise a big-budget film in Telugu, about which she can officially talk once she signs on the dotted line.
Movies were not planned, she says. It started with adverstisements and she found the other side of my life intriguing. "I was immersed in my studies and spent most of time in labs. When films came, I thought why not experiment with something different. I did a portfolio and, in a year, did around 200 ads. Later I started getting film offers," says Vidya, who started with a Tamil film, Aval Peyar Thamizharasi.
Her claim to fame is Pasanga 2 with Suriya and Amala Paul. "I have four projects in Tamil and a couple in Malayalam films are on the way," she says.
Juggling two demanding passions is not easy and Vidya has decided to take a break from her stem-cell research in August and concentrate on films.
The title Bangaara S/o Bangarada Manushya is a big responsibility to bear: Yogi G Raj
The makers are planning to go on floors from March first week before which the director is completing his location hunt. He had been to Italy recently where he spotted some good locations in Milan and Venice. Yogi explains the choice stating that even though Bangarada Manushya is set in a village backdrop, he will not be able to recreate another film like the 1972 Rajkumar-starrer since it is a masterpiece which cannot be repeated. "With his son (Shivarajkumar) in the film, he will be bangara (gold) to everybody. They will understand why Italy as one of the locations was required.
This title was decided by the director for Shivarajkumar four years back but the script was developed about eight months ago. "The name is a big responsibility to bear," he says.