Model-turned-actor Akshara Reddy is thrilled with the reception she got for her role in the recently released film, Right. Saying that it was her wish to see people praising the character and forgetting the actor who played it, Akshara says, "That's exactly what happened. People who knew me praised my performance and forgot Akshara and saw just Menaka."

Opening up on what she wants to accomplish in her acting career, Akshara says she wants to be completely different from who she was as a model. "I have done all this pretty makeovers, dolled up for pageant events, etc... I have heard compliments like 'pretty' and 'cute'. Now I want to be recognised as an actor who can express effectively," she says, explaining her choice to choose Right over choosing a rom-com for her debut as the lead, "Rom-coms will again necessitate me to doll up and do all the cutesy stuff. So I was not keen on making my debut with such a film."

Having said that, she eventually wants to try her hand at all kinds of roles, including the lighter ones in a rom-com. "I will also do the dancing and the pretty stuff, but getting recognised as an actor is the biggest priority."

Despite having worked as a model and been crowned the winner of various pageants, Akshara shares that she had to unlearn a lot of the things she used to do on a ramp to become an actor. "Modelling prepared me for films. I was well-prepared for it, as modeling served as a stepping stone to many opportunities, including films. But the major thing I had to stop doing was being camera-conscious. In beauty pageants, you have to pose for the camera and give a strained smile. Pretending not to have cameras around you in films was a huge task," she says, crediting ad films for removing her camera fright, but she had to lose certain things from that space, too. "Ads, in most cases, require the actors to gesticulate exaggeratedly. It is always over-the-top. The range of emotions you can express in a short time is minimal. It is a different ball game in films."

Once on the sets of Right, Akshara says no workshop prepared her for what she was about to do. "Workshops can only teach you how to understand a scene and dialogue. When it comes to performance, the moment I heard 'action' I began stammering," she laughs.

Decades ago, winning a beauty pageant was your ticket to the film industry, and such talents have made and continue making it big. The lateral entry into movies from modelling has become obsolete in recent days, Akshara says. She believes there are multiple reasons for this change. Both the film and modelling industries have evolved over the years. Beauty standards are no longer the same as they once were. Back in the days, you needed to have an hourglass figure and be of a certain skin tone. Both industries have become inclusive," she avers, supplementing her point that modelling has become competitive and being a model can be an end in itself rather than a platform for films. "Beauty standards have also evolved with the different kinds of stories directors come up with, where you do not need to have a leading lady who looks prim and proper, but a girl next door. Both industries are going on a healthy track," she signs off.