On her debut in Tamil: I've heard this question a lot, and one thing I get asked is how different it is from Bollywood. And to be quite honest, I've only worked very briefly in Bollywood. For example, October is a completely different film from Adithya Varma, so I don't even think I can compare the two industries - that wouldn't be fair. And to be quite honest, Tamil is such a universal medium that I cannot really describe any key differences. It's the same kind of process: you're with a family, and with a team, and the only difference is the people you are working with.
Banita Sandhu, the British- Indian model and actress, who debuts as Dhruv's pair in Adithya Varma, shares her experiences of working in Kollywood town.
Overcoming the language barrier: Of course, and that took a lot of preparation. One thing Vikram sir and I sat down and talked about is that we didn't want language to be a barrier to my performance. We didn't want it to get in the way of being in the moment and distract me.
[Dhruv interjects]: what she did was to go through the dialogues a couple of days before the shoot. With some help, she could easily interpret and understand the content. Her dialogue delivery is like so spot-on that she never forgets. After a take Ravi K Chandran sir used to say that she talks and walks like a Tamil person.
[She continues]: yeah, so it was a case of translating it and rote memorisation in terms of learning it phonetically and trying to get as good at it as I could, I guess.
So, you're a 3rd generation Indian in London. With the diaspora, there's always an identity crisis. Does that get transferred to the films you act in?
In terms of my career? You know, I was actually thinking about it the other day. I've done a film in pretty much every territory and I think my career is having a bit of an identity crisis as well. I think it's reflecting what I'm personally going through, but at the same time I don't see it as a predicament or a bad thing. I have two different cultures that I'm a part of, actually three since I've spent a lot of my childhood in Spain. And to be able to embrace all three is a wonderful thing. Getting to travel the world and experience different parts of my heritage has been amazing.
I wish I could pick one but honestly, I've been taking every day as it comes. I'm just kind of happy with what I'm doing right now.
[Dhruv interrupts]: but I also think that since she has done films in different languages, it brings out the versatility in her.
Working with Dhruv: (laughs all around) you know what, he actually exceeded my expectations. But sure, I saw the Varma teaser and then to see what he has done in this film, the growth that I've seen in him as an actor from when I started working with him, the maturity I've seen in his performance, because I know him personally now and I've seen him on screen, I've been really proud of his performance thus far. I would never normally say this in front of him cause' I don't want his ego to get any bigger. He's very talented and I'm really glad to have worked with him. But I never got intimidated with his acting, as I am also equally well prepared.
