'Lines between Bollywood, southern cinema merging'

Actress Adah Sharma, who made her cinematic debut with Vikram Bhatt-directed "1920" and had also recently starred in Telugu romantic-drama "Heart Attack", says the lines between Hindi and southern cinema are blurring.

"The fact that so many south Indian movies are being remade in Hindi and vice versa is proof to the fact that all industries are respected and treated equally. I feel the lines between the industries are merging with actors, technicians and directors from one industry working in the other," Adah told IANS in a telephonic interview.

Adah's Telugu debut "Heart Attack" was directed by Puri Jagannadh, but the movie's director of photography was from Mumbai.

"Therefore, since actors and technicians are working in different industries across languages, I feel the lines between the industries are slowly blurring," said Adah, who also recently starred in "Hasee Toh Phasee".

Citing an example from her own career, she said: "I had signed 'Heart Attack' when I was doing the last schedule of 'Hasee Toh Phasee'. I knew I was doing a Karan Johar film, I knew I had songs and a meaty role, but I still wanted to work with Puri sir."

"As a matter of fact, on the last day of 'Hasee Toh Phasee', I also started working on 'Heart Attack'. Moreover, I also have a lot of directors in my dream wish list from Telugu and Tamil industries I would like to work with," she said.

Adah, who had an unconventional cinematic debut with horror film '1920', doesn't like to plan her career.

"I'm not a planner as such. I never sat down and jotted this is what I should do. I started off with a horror movie in Bollywood. It was a sort of an unconventional start while my Telugu debut was very commercial. So I don't really plan my career," said Adah.

"I think I'm young and very strong and I will be able to juggle any number of films across industries. Both 'Hasee Toh Phasee' and 'Heart Attack' were done within a span of ten days and it was crazy, but I totally enjoyed it," she added.

Having also featured in Hindi films such as "Phhir" and "Hum Hai Raahi Car Ke", Adah doesn't find any difference in Bollywood and Telugu filmdom.

"Except for the language people speak in these industries, I really didn't find any difference. Since I worked with Puri sir in Telugu, I've been told he completes his films very quickly. Other than this, I really didn't find any difference. May be when I do more films, I may come across something unique," she said.

Adah received a stupendous response for her Telugu debut.

"The response to 'Heart Attack' actually gave me a heart attack," she quipped.

"It has changed my life. It's a huge debut for anyone to get the chance to work with Puri sir. I feel really fortunate," said Adah, who was a fan of Puri's work even before she worked with him.

"I watch films in all languages. I have mostly seen all of Puri sir's films. I had known him for a year and I had told him that my favourite film of his was 'Amma Naana O Tamil Ammai'. I like the innocence in his love stories and I thought he returned to his romantic roots with 'Heart Attack' ", she said.

Adah currently has two big-budget Telugu films and one Bollywood project in the offing.

(Haricharan Pudipeddi at haricharanpudipeddi@gmail.com)