'It was a blessing to play Jaya Prada's mother'

Suvarna Sundari, a supernatural thriller directed by MSN Surya has brought back South Indian heroine Poorna back to Kannada. The actor, who made her debut with Josh, and was associated with Radhana Ganda, which released in 2013, admits that she could not concentrate much on Kannada films, as she does not know the language, and found it very difficult.

“I am an actor who insists to be a part of a film only if I know the language and speak it fluently. It was the case with Telugu too. I believe that knowing the language helps you emote better. Now that I have learned Telugu, I have got comfortable in that industry. Though Kannada is hard to learn, I will not give up,” says Poorna, who finds it equally difficult to speak Hindi. “Speaking Hindi has been difficult since childhood — I never passed in that language until Class 4. In fact, my teachers had to change my language to English,” the actor recalls.

In her upcoming film, Suvarna Sundari, she shares screen space with Saakshi and senior actor Jaya Prada, among others. “When I committed to the project, it was only for Telugu. But after some time, I heard that it is being made in Kannada too. Then they started giving me Kannada dialogues, and it took time to get it perfect,” explains Poorna.

According to her, the title refers to a statue that plays an important part in the thriller. “However, for me, the suvarna sundari is Jaya Prada. When she is there, all eyes remain on her,” says Poorna. Though she remains non-committal about the genre, Poorna says it is a mix of genres. “I play a character that is a part of two generations. In fact, I am also waiting for May 31 to know about the genre,” says Poorna, who is happy that Suvarna Sundari has her playing Jaya Prada’s mother. “That itself was a blessing. For this character, I go into the black-and-white age, which I found very interesting. The other shade I play is of someone from the new generation,” she says.

The film has taken two years to come out, and Poorna points out it was because the CGI work took a lot of time. “The first time they did the graphics, it did not work, and it was redone all over again. I feel it is a very big gap for Suvarna Sundari,” says Poorna, who, however, still remembers all the fun she had on the sets. “I especially remember shooting for the climax, which was shot in the lift. It was so much fun,” she says.