Dubai, May 29 (Emirates 247) : Nivetha Pethuraj was crowned winner of the annual Miss India UAE pageant on April 11.

So we assume the next natural step for this beauty queen (as witnessed previously) is entering Hindi film industry.

But no, Nivetha has other plans. She wants to make it big in the movie industry but from the place her heart belongs to.

Nivetha is making her acting debut in upcoming Tamil drama 'Oru Naal Koothu'.

Ask her why not Bollywood (Hindi movie), she says, "I love Tamil movies, they make brilliant movies down South and moreover I am comfortable in my mother tongue."

A Tamilian settled in Dubai for over 13 years, her Tamil is impeccable.

In the movie she plays an IT girl in the software department and is paired opposite 'Attakathi' actor Dinesh.

'Oru Naal Koothu' is director Nelson's debut film and has three separate stories forming the structure of the movie.

The first schedule of the movie has been shot and Nivetha will be joining the crew from next week.

Talking to Emirates 24|7, she says, "I am very excited to start filming from next week and it will be a 20 days schedule. I feel it will be a commercial hit."

But the movie just didn't fall on her lap, Nivetha worked hard to bag the role. She went for the audition and it took the production team one week to get back to her.

"I read the script at least 3 or 4 times to be convinced of my role and am confident I can deliver," says the newcomer.

Nivetha will be moving her base to Chennai but will be making several trips to Dubai since her family is settled in the Emirates.

Besides her film career, the beauty queen is also set to participate in the Miss India Worldwide contest on August 31 in Mumbai.

Nivetha is an alumna of Our Own Indian School in Dubai and holds a management degree from Heriot-Watt University in Edinburgh, Scotland.