October 20, 2009 Y. Sunitha Chowdhary
"I have been having these pimples for a long time, I can't do anything about it," laments Kalyani. Her mother calls her daily and reminds her to drink water and keep off oily food. She says she is aware of the damage it does to her skin but she simply can't keep off fried chicken.
At her swank new office at Srinagar colony, Kalyani is multi-tasking. She is giving a listening to the carpenters, brushing her hair, pulling out the promo material of her upcoming film "Chapter 6" and is seeing off her hubby - actor turned director Sooriya Kiran at the door.
The actress has just returned from Kerala after finishing a Malayalam movie. She looks relaxed and says that she has never been interested in the quantity of films. Even if she does ten films she wants to make sure they are noteworthy and that appeals to all the age groups. Vasantham, Avunu Valliddharu Istapaddaru, Pedababu and Hope are some of them.
The Malayali actress looks very much at home in Hyderabad. Doesn't speak Telugu fluently and when she is not clear, she looks at her husband in askance and he chips in eloquently. It took four years for her to turn producer and the reason she cites is that she had her priorities and commitments as a housewife and a daughter in law. Now she's relatively free.
"Our banner is called Midass Touch and we will produce films with the available talent. Sooriya Kiran might not direct all these films. He's handling this one as the film is the first production from our banner," says Kalyani. The emphasis here is on the variety, she doesn't want to make a film that is very regular.
Ask her why the contemporary actresses are not able to hang on to the industry for a long time, she refuses to be drawn into a controversy but reluctantly and carefully quips, "I think they are signing any film that comes their way. Also instead of trusting roles like the ones Jayasudha or Revathi did, they are banking heavily on exposing. Even if there are good stories, there are no author-backed roles for women as such like Arundathi."
That's perhaps why Kalyani has consciously stayed away from running around trees. She avers that she will not play sister or bhabhi kind of roles. If she does something it has to be like the one she'd done in Vasantham. Got it? She questions. Otherwise she is keen on starting a family next year.
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