Neerparavai Varsha Ashwathy is going places

Varsha Ashwathy in between the shoots

Varsha Ashwathy, who played a police officer in director Seenu Ramasamy’s latest flick Neerparavai, got appreciation for her portrayal in the film. Varsha also had essayed a similar character in S.P. Jananathan’s Peranmai in 2009,  and is one of the few actresses from North India who can speak very fluently in Tamil albeit with a Thoothukudi accent.

Reason: her naval officer father has been on duty at the Tuticorin Port for the past 20 years now which has made the pretty-looking Varsha almost a permanent resident of Tamil Nadu. In her growing years, she picked up the local dialect. She now plays the heroine in veteran actor Sathyaraj’s Nagaraja Cholan MA, MLA (sequel to Amaidhipadai) which is directed by Manivannan, who returns to direction after a long hiatus.

In the industry, not many upcoming actresses willingly take up the offer to play the heroine of a senior/ageing actor but Varsha is different and views things from an unique perspective. Actresses are wary of getting stereotyped as heroine of ‘old actors’ and generally say ‘no’ to such offers but not Varsha.

“I knew that acting alongside veterans would help me get a better understanding about the industry and about many technical things. I also thought that the rich experience they would share with me in breaks in shooting would stand me in good stead. This is exactly what happened during the making of the film and Sathyaraj Sir taught me many things about how to go about in Tamil films.

“For a particular sequence in the film which was shot in heavy rain, I and the entire Unit had to spend as many as 10 hours on-the-trot under the downpour. At the end of the shoot, my legs and hands were shivering with cold. However, all the stress and pain vanished into thin air when Sathyaraj Sir and Manivannan Sir appreciated me for my performance in the film,” smiles Varsha Ashwathy.