Lisa Ray – the top rated model, anchor for Star TV and actress was seen crawling to learn the situation and Kannada dialogues on the sets of ‘Yuvaraja’ her debut film in South Indian language. Acting in Kannada film is like taking training for me. Looking beautiful and talking fluently with the two hour long waiting media persons on the lush green lawns of Kanteerava studios Lisa feels that she is more matured, settled and gained ground in her career.
Here are the excerpts of a chat with Lisa Ray:
Why did you accept this film?
I liked the enthusiasm of the people who approached me.
Born and brought up in Canada with international acclaim, how these offers help you?
I believe in cross-cultural combination as an artist. My accent may be English oriented but I can fluently talk in Hindi. For an artist there should not be any language barrier.
Did you find any difficulty in Kannada language?
It has been a wonderful experience. Shivrajkumar helped me a lot. There are very nice people around. In a week time I was able to gain good position. Whether it will be easy to act or not I can’t say now. I have to act for one more schedule.
A few years ago you had expressed aversion to big screen?
Yes. I agree. I did not want to be in films. Firstly I was not settled in India. After a long time thinking I decided to take up films. I did one film called ‘Kasoor’ with Sanjay Dutt and found it easy.
Do you want to continue in acting?
Yes. I want to be in Television show, modeling and film acting. I want to balance in all the fields. Life is a matter of experience for me.
How is your career so far?
My career in the past two to three years has been going great guns. It has been fun loving helped me in growing. I am superstitious too and kept watching the good days to come. I value my privacy a lot.
After ‘Kasoor’ is there any Bollywood offers for you?
I have given consent for three Hindi movies and it is premature to talk about it. In the meanwhile the star TV has renewed my contract for one more year.
How can you manage films, modeling, television shows?
The Hindi films I have accepted ‘start to finish’ agreement. I would divide my days and manage. Challenge has to be accepted and do variety.
Did you recover from ill health?
Yes. I have recovered from Appendicitis operation. I was on rest for one month.
Do you accept more south Indian language films?
I have already given consent for Mahesh Babu Telugu film. It is tentatively titled as ‘Cow Boy’.
How did you like Bangalore?
The weather is extremely good. It is not like Mumbai.