Meticulous planning in Sandalwood amazes Anita Hassanandani

Actress Anita Hassanandani was in Bangalore over the weekend enroute a private visit to Tirupathi. “I’m visiting the city after three years. I was last here for my Kannada film Huduga Hudugi. I have good memories of Bangalore. In fact, my tryst with Kannada films happened by accident. It was when I was shooting for a Telugu film in Hyderabad when director Meher Ramesh approached me for Veera Kannadiga.I was game to explore a new language and said yes. Unfortunately, since I was busy with TV and Telugu films, I never have been able to concentrate on Kannada films,” says Anita, who married beau Rohit Reddy last October.
She says that the filmmakers in the south are probably the most meticulous planners. “I was shooting for my second Kannada film Gandugali Kumararama opposite Shivarajkumar. I needed two hours off on a day. When I asked the makers, they promptly looked at their schedule and told me that they could finish my scene a little earlier that day and give me those two hours off. The planning here amazes me,” says Anita, who clearly remembers how she would have the entire film’s dialogues on tape before she began shooting for the film, so that she could be prepared in advance.
Currently busy with Bollywood project Hero, where she stars alongside debutants Athiya Shetty and Sooraj Pancholi, Anita expresses her desire to do more films in the south. “I do get offers, I hope to return to do a Kannada film soon,” she signs off.