'I revisited hard phases in my life to authentically portray my character'

Getting into the film industry and making a mark was actor Tanya Hope’s first challenge, which she overcame with her debut Kannada film, Yajamana. Playing an important role opposite Darshan, she also featured in the chartbuster, Bassani, and established herself in the minds of the audience. With her upcoming release, Amar, she is hoping that her role clicks with the audience just the way her first one did.  
“A first film makes a mark, and the next few are what helps you take your career forward. I was lucky to get that first big break with Yajamana and work with a star like Darshan. I’m equally lucky to have bagged Nagshekar’s Amar,” says Tanya, who is taking things one step at a time.  

“As an actor, I would like to focus on my skills. I don’t go deep into strategy or worry about my moves. I just focus on actual work and believe in doing my best. The right time is also a huge factor. I also feel that when the time is right, things will just come to you. An actor should continue working irrespective of hits and flops,” she says. 

While Tanya admits that she was nervous facing a star like Darshan right in her first film, working with Abhishek (veteran actor Ambareesh’s son) has been different. “I was little more relaxed with Abhishek since he’s a friend. There was a sense of comfort, and the atmosphere on the sets was light, which made it easier to perform,” he says. 

A romantic drama, Amar, is about a professional rallyist, and required Tanya to learn to ride a bike. "Initially, I didn’t think I could do it, but Nagshekar insisted. He was okay with me taking time but he wanted me to learn the skill. It built my confidence for the role too,” says Tanya, adding that the director has kept the film as close to reality as possible. 

Tanya is glad that the director gave her an opportunity to perform in Amar. “Yajamana was a commercial entertainer and had an ensemble cast. My role was light-hearted and relatively easy to perform. In the case of Amar, I had to showcase different emotions like fun, arrogance, anger, etc... In fact, some scenes required me to get very emotional, and I had to make it as real as possible, I actually revisited some hard phases in my real life to ensure that I portrayed realistic emotions on screen,” says Tanya.   

She recalls a confrontation scene that takes place in an auditorium, which required both the leads to shed tears and the atmosphere was so real that they started crying without any prompting. “It ended up coming out really well,” she says.  

Though she joined the Kannada industry only in 2018, Tanya is already getting comfortable.  She admits that she has been lucky to not have received even a single rude message. “I feel happy when people ask me what my next film is,” says Tanya, who is currently shooting for a Kannada film, Khaki, and will join the sets of a Telugu project from the first week of June.