Chennai, Mar 20 (IANS): A trained Bharatanatyam dancer and performer for 17 years, debutante Mrudhula Basker says that she learnt acting from the renowned classical Indian dance form.

"Seventy percent of what I did in my debut film 'Vallinam' was something I learned from Bharatanatyam as it is filled with zillions of expressions, which is very useful for acting. In fact, I was picked by the director because of my rich dance experience," Mrudhula told IANS.

She has been dancing since the age of three and says that acting was never of any interest to her.

"Even though I received plenty of offers before this film, I never showed any interest because I was a dancer. However, my director happened to see my portfolio and liked me for the fact that I'm a dancer and I eventually gave in," she said.

Mrudhula is paired opposite Nakul in the Tamil sports drama "Vallinam", which is set against a college backdrop and its narrative surrounds how a game of basketball intertwines things such as friendship, romance and some social awareness.

"I play a mature, rich girl in the film with a lot of scope for performance. Working with Nakul was a delight and he is very encouraging," said Mrudhula.

As a debutante, she says a combination of a good script, director and co-star is very important.

"For a successful debut, one needs to have a successful combination of a script, director and co-star. The script will give me scope to perform as an actor, while a good director will teach me what to do and what not to do. You also need a good co-star because if you're uncomfortable around him, then your best will never come out", she said.

"Vallinam" is produced by Venu Ravichandran, popularly known as Aascar Ravichandran. It also features Atul Kulkarni, Siddharth Jonnalagadda, Amzath Khan, Jagan and Anupama Kumar in important roles.

The film is currently in post-production phase and is getting ready for April release. It has music by S.S. Thaman.