Sunday, June 16, 2002

Deepti, Rashika, Sangeeta...

What’s in a name? What if a person has different names from that his or her real name? Doesn’t this end up in a kind of identity crisis for the person? However, upcoming actress Deepti has resigned herself to be recognised by different names. She made her debut in Tamil cinema as Rashika, became Sangeeta in Malayalam cinema but was rechristened Deepti in Telugu cinema.

While sounding confused about the name they use to call her in different circuits of the South Indian film industry, you quiz her on which is her real name and she says, “People know me as Sangeeta but many of them still call me Rashika.” She says, “But, my real name is Sangeeta. In Malayalam cinema, I am known by both the names — Rashika and Sangeeta.”
Sangeeta alias Deepti is acting in her fourth Kannada film — Bangalore Bundh — after Vajra (opposite Ramkumar), Janani Janmabhoomi (opposite Vishnuvardhan) and Ee Hrudaya Ninagagi (opposite Kumar Govind).

Initially, Sangeeta was interested in taking up modelling assignments when she was studying in the 11th Standard. She did a couple of ramp shows and participated in a few beauty contests before arclights became her calling. She says one such contest was telecast on television and got called to face the movie camera for the first time. Sangeeta is a swimmer and a good dancer according to her mother who accompanies daughter on the sets. In fact, Sangeeta is said to have performed in Tillana Tillana — a stage show which ran for 27 shows in Japan last year which had Ramji as the solo dancer accompanying her and Kalyan as the choreographer. “Japanese do not understand Tamil. But, this unique concept was done with an intention to promote Indian classical dance and Tamil cinema,” she says.

A Tamilian by birth and with the backing of her family that is into films, Sangeeta made her bow into Tamil cinema in 1997 with Poomchaloi (flower garden) directed by Gangai Amaran (Ilayaraja’s brother). She has also acted in Tamil films Doubles opposite Prabhudeva and Meena besides Kabaddi Kabaddi opposite Pandiarajan.

She became interested and grew serious about her acting career after accepting offers in Malayalam. Says Sangeeta, “I was too casual about myself and my looks. But, about a year back, I started realising that I was supposed to look good off-screen as well when good acting offers and thoughts started coming to me. That is when I shed my weight from a high of 68 kg to 55 kg.”

Sangeeta has had a string of successes in Telugu and Malayalam cinema as an actress. Her Telugu films Navvuthu Badukulira opposite Chakravarthy and Maa Aayana Sundaraiah opposite Srihari have become successful. Says she, “language is no barrier for me to accept film offers. I decide to take up a role if one or more of the following considerations suit me: a big banner, a big director, a big hero and a good script.” Her role in Malayalam film Deepasthambam Mahashreyam in which Sangeeta plays the role of a girl who falls in love with an artist who is in love with someone else has won her appreciation. She has acted in another controversial film English Medium which deals with the controversy surrounding the medium of instruction in Kerala. Her deglamourised role as a terrorist in the film Shraddha opposite Mohan Lal also won her a lot of accolades. The other Malayalam films which have given her recognition include Summer in Bethlehem with Suresh Gopi and Manju Warrier in other roles besides Chilaksharangal.

Her forthcoming Malayalam films include Magic Lamp which has Jayaram in four roles with Meena, Divya Unni and Khusbu besides herself doubling up to share the frames. What are her future plans? Does she plan to give Hindi cinema a shot? Says Sangeeta, “I live for today and I don’t really plan for tomorrow. I am doing my bachelor’s correspondence course in Business Administration from Madras University. No, I don’t know or rather I am not that confident of starting all over again in Hindi cinema. I am doing well for myself in Malayalam cinema. Bollywood is like an ocean and I feel why go there when one can make a name here?”

Srikanth Srinivasa