Chennai, Apr 10 (IANS): Actress Catherine Tresa says she likes to do roles that push her potential as an artist and proof of it is her character of a village girl in Tamil forest-based actioner "Kadamban".

Predominantly shot in the forest terrains, Catherine says the experience was "tough" yet "exciting".

"Working on 'Kadamban' was a very new experience; different from anything I have done so far in my career. It was a hard project, considering it was shot in the jungle and the conditions were not quite favourable. We could pull it off because we believed in what we were doing," Catherine, who plays a tribal in the film, told IANS.

Elaborating on the "tough" part of shooting in the jungle, she said: "All of us had to shoot barefoot because our characters didn't require footwear. You can't even walk on this terrain, and you don't know what will pop out from where."

It's a story high on emotions, says Catherine, who was moved by the film's message.

"Beyond the entertainment angle, the message that the film delivers is very relevant today. We all need to care about nature because our lives depend on it," she said, and added that she plays a character with a lot of scope to perform.

"I don't make a blink-and-you-miss kind of appearance. I like to challenge myself with different roles and I'm glad 'Kadamban' gave me that opportunity," she said.

The film also stars Arya, and Catherine is in awe of his dedication.

"Hard work is an understatement for the effort Arya has put into the project. From building a muscular body to performing heavy duty stunts, he gave it his all. As a co-star, he was very friendly, always cracking jokes," she added.

Directed by Raghava and produced by R.B. Choudhary, the film has been dubbed in Telugu as "Gajendrudu" and will release along with the Tamil version.