'I got the role because I cried without glycerine'

The upcoming Kannada film RX Soori, which has Duniya Vijay in the lead, introduces a new heroine to Sandalwood — Akankshaa. Born in Gujarat, Akankshaa came to Bengaluru after Class 10, a move she credits for her fairly good command over Kannada. Hailing from a business family, showbiz was never in the scheme of things — not even when she had her first tryst of sorts with the glamour world when she became an air hostess.
Akankshaa soon became bored of the high-flying lifestyle, though, and was on a break with no goal in sight when a friend suggested she audition for a film role. “When I headed into the audition, all I knew was that it was for a Vijay film. I hadn’t been briefed about the script or the role in the film. When my turn came, I was given a rather emotional scene, which required me to cry. I did cry, naturally, without glycerine, but for more than a month after the audition, I didn’t hear from the makers of the film and I thought I hadn’t made it. I was still trying to figure out what my next move should be when I got a call from the team saying that I bagged the role because of my convincing emotional outpour and the fact that I cried without glycerine,” she says.
The newbie is thrilled about her debut movie, despite it supposedly being a gangster-flick based on the real-life story of Paritala Soori, with a lot of violent action. But isn’t it a genre that might not give her much scope to perform, considering it is her debut? “Yes, it is a real-life story and it has a lot of action, but what excites me is that we are giving audiences a glimpse into that story. Also, the tagline of the film is ‘A true love story’, so there’s ample romance as well. Love plays a central part in the story,” she says.