Having made her debut in 'Valli' produced by Rajnikanth, she went on to playing very meaty roles in Malayalam cinema, before staging a comeback in Tamil films with 'Suryavamsham', opposite Sarath Kumar. The touch-me-not girl now seems to have switched over to playing the mod seductress in her second innings in Tamil films. A small tete-tete with her:

We find you dressed in very glamourous outfits in films like 'Puthumaipithan', 'Ponmanam' and 'Chinna Raja'. What prompted the change?

As far as I am concerned, if the role needs glamour, I'm game for it. The character should be such that the costumes and the scenes are justified. A part of me wanted to prove I could carry off such roles too. In the films you mention, it wasn't as if the roles were all centred on 'oomph' and skin-show. In 'Puthumaipithan', you must admit the role was well defined, and the glamour you seem to object to was only in the song. As for 'Chinna Raja', the stills that were published were rather bold, but when you've seen the film, you'll agree that any actress would have loved to play the role. So the bolder roles I've done were hardly part of a deliberate ploy to beat the current crop of actresses at their own game. I may not have been the solo heroine in all my films, but I've had a definite role to play in each of them, and long after the audience has walked out of theatres, my roles are still remembered.

Has you tenure in Malayalam films taught you much?

Of course it has, as it was bound to. Malayalam cinema's directors like Fazil, Joshi and IV Sasi and artists like Mohan Lal, Mammootty, Suresh Gopi and Mukesh are so dedicated and talented that it is certain to rub off on you. You can't help but show the same devotion to your own work. My experience in Malayalam films has given me the confidence to handle just about any challenging role and hold my own with even the seasoned artistes.

Why is it that you've failed to consolidate your position in Telugu despite doing films like 'Subhasankalpam' directed by K Vishwanath?

After doing films with the likes of Vishwanath and Kamal Hassan, I didn't wish to be associated with ordinary films any more. Sadly, all the offers I got were singularly uninteresting, and promised little for me as an actress.

We're told you're doing a Mithun Chakraborty film.....?

That's right. I've been signed to play the heroine in T Rama Rao's 'Sautela'. It's quite different from the usual Mithun films, and the story is a village-based theme, and I have a good role to play in it.

Now that you are married to the man of your dreams, is it the end of your acting career?

See, films was not something that I wanted but now that I have arrived, I would like to make a name for myself and do some good films before I call it quits. I am not setting any major goals but I would like to do some good roles where I get a chance to expose my full potential. Marriage need not be a hindrance to that aspiration of mine.