Mangalore: ‘Dream Girl’ Yajna Shetty Eyes Long Innings in Sandalwood
by Sushma Barvathaya
Daijiworld Media Network - Mangalore
Mangalore, Sep 6: “It was a great learning experience which opened doors for me to perform a variety of dance forms. I was always passionate about dance though I have had no formal training. I have certainly bettered my dancing skills, says Yajna Shetty, leading lady of Sandalwood and the winner of 'Dream Girl' crown at the recently concluded dance competition aired on Kasthuri TV, 'Dream Girls, nakshatra lokada apsareyaru.
Yajna, who made it to the final round along with actresses Spoorvi, Priyanka and Vidya managed to beat all of them in the competition to win the Dream Girl crown taking home Rs 5 lac as the cash prize and experience of working with the likes of Tara and Imraan Sardaria well known choreographers and director Gurudutt, who were the judges. The reality show took off in February 2009 with 12 contestants, all upcoming actresses that included Deepu, Biyanka Desai, Ashwini, Soorthy, Bhoomika, Deepika, Monisha and Ankitha apart from the above four, who battled it out for nearly 70 episodes.
Riding on a high being crowned Dream Girl and highly appreciated for her deglamourized lead role of a typical housewife with intense emotions in Jaggesh’s Eddelu Manjunath, Yajna says she is very happy with the critical acclaim and applause from the audiences she has garnered for her role. It feels nice as I have always been only appreciated so far be it be my role of a strong-headed girl in my debut film in 2006, Ondu preetiya kategaagi or of the recent film, Love Guru, where I played a bubbly character with a little innocence and quirky nature, she says.
When reminded that she has acted only in three movies in the last three years, Yajna reveals that it was a conscious decision as she is very choosy about the roles. I do not go desperately seeking for a role as I believe that whatever offers that are destined to be mine will definitely come to me. Moreover, importance of my character in the movie is of prime importance to me, no matter how big or small the role is, adds Yajna.
When queried whether is she open to films from other languages, she says that talent has no barrier. Informing that she has signed Kari Chirate opposite Duniya Vijay, a two-heroine project the other heroine being Sharmila Mandre, Yajna says I play a bubbly character in the first half and a matured and subtle role where I need to underplay in the second-half. She adds that she has no qualms doing multi-starrer projects as script has always been prime when it came to choosing film projects. This is the reason why don’t have a list of favourite directors I want to work with, she explains.
Patience is the key to survive in this industry, says Yajna and would like to be remembered as a good performer and good actress. With no dream roles as such she would like to be remembered as an intense and versatile actress on the lines of her favourite actresses, Kalpana and Lakshmi. Eyeing for a long innings in the industry, this business management postgraduate who secured second rank in MBA from MIC, Manipal says that she would like to enter into corporate world in the long run.
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