Drama, theatre or acting never crossed her mind, says actor Reba Monica John, adding that destiny, however, had other plans. Since her entry into the tinsel town, she has established herself intwo languages and is now all set to make her mark in Kannada. The self-confessed true blue Bengaluru hudugi had been part of a reality show, and the face of popular commercial ads, before her film career took off with a Malayalam film, Jacobinte Swargarajyam in which she starred opposite Nivin Pauly. She later made her mark in Tamil films as well.
Reba came to limelight with Tamil actor Vijay’s latest film, Bigil, and is now geared up to get noticed in Sandalwood too. While her Kannada debut with Jacob Verghese’s directorial Sakalakala Vallabha, starring Rishi, is yet to see its release, Reba has bagged her second Kannada project — Ratnan Prapancha. The film, directed by Rohit Padaki, is the first production venture of KRG Studios. It has her paired opposite actor Dhananjay. An official announcement about the project took place at the film’s mahurat on Aug. 31.
Reba, who is happy to have her foot in more than one Indian film industry, is looking forward to gaining the spotlight here too. “I am very academically oriented, and my main aim was always to get good grades. I used to dance and sing, and had good leadership qualities, but the film world was never on my mind. However, I took a chance when I got an offer opposite Nivin Pauly at a time when the actor was at his peak, after his Premam had released.
I wanted to give it a shot. If it hadn’t worked, I always had a backup, because I had my Masters degree. But right now the story is different. It has been a lovely journey. With time, I have also realised that I have talent. I also work hard because, in the end, all that matters is good work. Moreover, irrespective of the language I speak at home, I am glad to establish myself in three different regions,” says Reba, who is also in talks for a Telugu film.
She was drawn towards Ratnan Prapancha, jointly produced by Karthik Gowda and Yogi G Raj, when the first look-poster caught her attention, and that happened even before she was approached for the project. “I just loved the look, and I felt the poster had a story, which was intriguing. Call it a coincidence, but I was approached by the team for the same project, and after a few rounds of discussions, it was finalised,” says Reba, adding that a couple of factors made her accept the film.
“Ratnan Prapancha doesn’t come with a cliched story, or with typical characters. Moreover, the film directed by Rohit Padaki is backed by a good production house, and a brilliant technical team (music director B Ajaneesh Lokanath, and cinematographer Sreesha Kuduvalli). I looked at these while choosing any project, and I am glad to have made a good choice, where everything fit the bill,” she says.