VASUNDHARA DAS Kamal Haasan's new find Meet Vasundhara Das, the girl whom Kamal Haasan had one look at and signed, to play the lead in his magnum opus, Hey! Ram. So impressed was AR Rahman with her looks and voice that he persuaded Mani Ratnam to cast her in his film Alay Payudhe. Not just that, he even made her croon the famous number shak-a-laka-baby for Shankar’s Mudhalvan. A candid chat with the new sensation.

How did it feel, acting in Kamal Haasan’s Hey! Ram and crooning for AR Rahman in Mudhalvan?
Good. Finally life is looking up for me. I have waited enough in life for opportunities to sing for some good composers. And now, things have begun to move, first with the offer to sing the Shaka laka baby track composed by AR Rahman, whom the world considers a genius. And then surprisingly being offered to act in a Tamil film Hey! Ram, directed by Kamal Haasan. I play the lead in the film as Kamal’s wife.

What was your first priority, acting or singing?
Singing, of course. No doubt. I have had a dream for as long as I can remember and this dream was to sing. When I was not in class at school or college I was invariably at singing practise. Thank God, I grew up in a cosmopolitan place like Bangalore, for I eventually got a multi-cultural exposure. Bangalore being a slower-paced city, has less scope for one who wants to get into the entertainment big time.

How did you bag the plum role in Kamal Haasan’s Hey! Ram?
I have a friend in Chennai, music composer Pravin Mani. I had worked with him on a project. His mother Indu Mani heard Kamal Haasan was looking for a new face to play his young wife in Hey! Ram. She let them know about me and when they’d seen my photographs, they called me over for a meeting and screen test and I was selected.

But is it true that Kamal Haasan had to request you to do the role?
He didn’t actually request me, but his office definitely persuaded me to come over from Bangalore to Chennai to meet him. They even got me my flight tickets for the screen test.

How was it working in Hey! Ram?
Ecstasy is the only word to describe it. I consider myself lucky to be acting with and under the direction of arguably, the best actor in India. Also it provided me the opportunity to work with seasoned artistes like Hema Malini, Girish Karnad, Mohan Gokhale, Vikram Gokhale and Saurabh Shukla. I got an insight into a completely new world and a completely new proffession opened its doors for me.

What’s your role in Hey! Ram like?
I play an Iyengar girl — an innocent, spontaneous yet strong person who comes to marry a very complicated man. The parts of the film in which I feature, show how we make compromises for each other, and come to influence the other in so many myriad ways.

Did anyone give you a raw deal, since you were a rank newcomer and others were seasoned pros?
No. In fact every one was so co-operative, even indulgent, that I could not quite believe my luck. Kamal Haasan himself was very understanding. He knew very well I wasn’t quite as much of an actress as a singer, so he never once lost his temper, even when I knew I’d goofed up badly. Hema Malini treated me like her own daughter. She would discuss her daughter Esha with me for hours. She would detail to me how filmdom works, and gave me tips on how to cope with it. It’s hardly necessary for an artiste of her calibre to discuss her daughter with me. So that gives you a fair idea of how well I was treated.

Is it true you had to do revealing scenes?
I don’t understand what you mean by ‘revealing’ scenes. But yes, I have done a sex scene in Hey! Ram with Kamal Haasan. He’d already told me about it at the start. He told me it was very necessary for the story, and wasn’t meant to arouse or titilate the audience. It was an integral part of the script. I agreed to it because of the trust I had in Kamal and he never betrayed my trust at any point.

Did it involve nudity?
It was a sex scene, which does involve some nudity, but in a dignified way. It will definitely not look cheap when seen by the audience.

Did Mani Ratnam want you to play the heroine in his venture Alay Payudhe?
Yes, Mani was looking for a new girl to play the lead in Alay Payudhe and AR Rahman told him about me. And so he called me up in Bangalore and asked me to come over. We met and had a screen test, but then, at that point, I was very much into singing, and so acting wasn’t so seriously on my mind. Mani wanted me to totally concentrate on Alay Payudhe, which I could not promise. So he had to start his search for a new girl all over again, and finally zeroed in Shalin.

Did Khalid Mohammed want you to play the lead in his film Fizaa opposite Hrithik Roshan?
Who told you this? It’s totally baseless. I agree I know Khalid well but he definitely did not offer me Fizaa. I was introduced to him by dance director Farah Khan, who’s a good friend. Khalid has already signed Neha and Karisma Kapoor for Fizaa. I guess because people saw me meeting him at a time when he was casting for Fizaa, they probably thought he’d signed me.

How did singing for AR Rahman happen?
I came to Chennai with the intention of doing some quality singing. My search led me to Pravin Mani, a Canada based music producer, as he calls himself. His main interest was that I sing in Spanish — Fla, Emco Latino and Gypsy styles of Spanish music. I have been learning Spanish for a year now, and am still not fluent at speaking it but I sure can sing it. Pravin and I cut a demo, and saw that the music was ‘flowing’. It’s he who introduced me to AR Rahman.
After I’d finished shooting in Hey! Ram, Rahman called me in to sing Shakala Baby for the movie Mudhavan and its Telugu version — Okke Okkudu. The song marks a guest appearnace by Sushmita Sen. I have also sung for Rhythm, a film directed by Vasanth and also a number in Rajeev Menon’s Kandu Konden.

Are you planning to release an album too.
Yes, I have been signed by Magnasound for an album. Pravin and I are working on it, and it should be completed shortly.

Why did you reject the offer by producer Vashu Bhagnani to play the lead opposite Abhishek Bachchan in Tera Jadoo Chal Gaya.
I did not find the script interesting.

But you lost out on a role opposite Amitabh Bachchan’s son. Don’t you regret it?
Not at all. It was a very sensible decision, considering I wasn’t it would make a good film.

What if it becomes a hit?
I’d rather not look back. See, I don’t mind doing a good film even if I know it wouldn’t click at the box-office. But I definitely can’t do a bad film just because it has a star son in it. Don’t get me wrong, I don’t mean to degrade Vashu Bhagnani in any way. Don’t mistake me for that at all. I am really happy, deep down in my heart that Vashu at least thought of me, even when he wasn’t sure as to how my first film in going to be received by the audience. I am really grateful to him.

Have you heard of the casting couch?
Yes, I have heard of it but I swear I have never faced such a situation. But I am not a person who will tolerate nonsence. Acting is just an extention of my dreams in singing. I am not so desperate to make it in the film world that I have to sleep with some one. If at all any one rubs me the wrong way I know how to handle them.

So what’s next? Have you signed any other film?
I’ve nothing concrete, as yet, to talk about. But yes, my album with Magnasound is in the offing and I hope it clicks in a big way.

And I’m eagerly looking forward to working with directors like Aditya Chopra, Karan Johar and Shyam Benegal. I just love their brand of films.

Ayani I Jaikishan