One couldn’t take eyes off the charming twins featuring in the trailer of upcoming Bollywood film Shaandaar starring Shahid Kapoor and Alia Bhatt. Bengaluru-based Malayali twins Teena and Tessa Vellara are making their dream debut through the movie in supporting roles.
The 23-year-old girls have been enjoying being in the spotlight and have been part of all stage activities since childhood. “We were active in culturals during our school and college days. Shaandaar is our first film and both of us are quite excited about the recognition. One of our friend’s brother-in-law saw a post of a very big casting director Mukesh Chabra requesting twins to send in pictures for an unspecified movie and the next thing we know is we are cast in a Vikas Bahl movie,” says Teena.
Teena says the acting experience was surreal and within a span of three months, they went from being clueless girls who tumbled into this career to understanding every aspect of filmmaking and all the hard work going into the production of a movie.
Tessa is also quite excited about the debut. “We were so fortunate to work with the best of best in Bollywood. We got to work with not one, but two of the biggest production houses of the industry (Phantom and Dharma). Every need of ours was catered to and we felt right at home the second we were confirmed for the film. We are the best friends of the bride in the movie,” says Tessa.
Explaining more about the character, Teena says, “We have a very fun and comical role. Our characters will definitely not go unnoticed as our costumes are an extravagant, bizarre combination.”
Quizzed about the lead pair, Tessa quips: “Alia and Shahid are passionate actors and take their craft very seriously. There was a level of professionalism they keep up to and watching their scenes helped us a lot. We were initially very nervous as they are top actors of the industry, but in due course, we turned out to be good friends. We could hot have asked for better co-actors.”
Being twins, Teena and Tessa share certain interests and hobbies, but tread different paths on the basis of their personal choices. Tessa is more involved in cake-making and is currently running a cake business called ‘Cuppycakes’, while Teena, who has an eye for fashion, has a clothing line called ‘Tee-ara’.
So do they criticise each other’s work? “We do not criticise each other’s acting but give each other inputs based on how we think the scene can be improved,” says Tessa. The twins were also featured in a YouTube video called Mime through Bollywood which went viral and had nearly 10 million views overall on Facebook and YouTube.
On their future plans, Teena says they loved the experience of acting and definitely yearned for more. “Shaandaar has opened before us doors of yet another career opportunity. Although we loved our experience in Bollywood, our next dream is to do a Mollywood movie.”
Speaking about their Malayali roots, Tessa says: “Our entire family is from Kerala. We have been born there and have spent all our holidays growing up at our grandparents’ house in Thrissur. Our mother hails from Chalakudy and our father from Vylathur.”
Though their schooling was in Bengaluru, all their holidays were spent in a small town called Pariyaram. “Our grandparents’ house is situated on a 10-acre plot with plush greenery and a river. Our fondest memories are of running around the plot and the mouth-watering delicacies prepared by our Ammachi. Despite all our tight schedules, we always make it a point to visit Kerala at least thrice a year. We are always craving for some irachi and payasam,” Teena sums up.
