Life under limelight

Petite, pretty and a bundle of talent, Aindrita Ray is a charmer off-screen as much as she scorches the silver screen with her presence. Since making her acting debut in the 2008 release Meravanige, the actor has worked in over 18 projects including films like Junglee, Manasaare, Nooru Janmaku, Veera Parampare, Manasina Maathu, Paramathma, Parijatha and Bhajarangi among many others.

Born in Udaipur, the youngest child in her family, Aindrita lived in several cities, thanks to her father’s job with the Armed Forces, and eventually settled in Bengaluru, which she believes is home. Post her education at Baldwin Girls High School and Christ College, she started pursuing dentistry at M R Ambedkar Dental College. So, were films always on her mind? Her answer surprises me.

Actress by accident

“I was a shy kid and an introvert. In fact, I remember when I was in Class 2, I was asked to dance on stage and I started crying. While I was always a drama queen at home and would mimic my teachers in front of my family, I hardly spoke outside.” The turning point came when a friend’s mother asked her to audition with Elite agency that had just opened and she reluctantly agreed. “It was an advertisement for TVS Scooty and I did well and got selected. After that there was no looking back and I started modelling for several big brands including Cadburys and Parachute among many others. It was TVS ad director Mahesh Babu who offered me the lead in Meravanige.”

Mission accomplished

Aindrita admits that she got a lot of recognition after her first film and it set the ball rolling for her. “I have been fortunate that most of my films have done well and last year my first Bengali film Bachchan, starring Bengali superstar Jeet, was a hit.” This movie is incidentally a remake of the 2011 Kannada film, Vishnuvardhana. “It released during the Durga Puja season last year and all the pandals were playing our songs. I really hope to act in many more language films and not restrict myself.” The actress has just wrapped up shooting for two movies Niruttara, a film by Apurva Kasaravalli, son of renowned filmmaker Girish Kasaravalli, and Jaggesh’s Melukote Manja. “I have been reading a lot of scripts but I have not taken on any project as yet. In fact, I have just returned from a month-long vacation and I am looking forward to working on some solid scripts.”

The young actress understands the need to connect with fans via social media and says that she has become active on platforms like Twitter and Facebook over the last eight months. “I realised that it is important for my fans to know my real persona, beyond the characters that are portrayed on screen. It is also a great platform to clarify about any controversies. I also follow several stars myself and think this is a wonderful platform to connect with your fans.” And she also admits that being a public figure she is under constant scrutiny, but says that she has not been adversely affected and believes in taking the positives and negatives with a pinch of salt.

Having won several awards, Aindrita feels that an actor can never work towards an award and must focus on doing good work. Incidentally, she says that she now has different parameters while selecting her scripts. “Earlier, I would only look at the commercial aspect and the production house that was backing the script. However, of late, my focus has completely changed and I only consider the value of the script. Since I have only done commercial cinema, I also hope to work on some art cinema and I have made a start with that.”