Ananya Raj on working in South and Hindi industry: South Industry is a boon for newcomers whereas Hindi film industry doesn't have much conviction in outsiders

MUMBAI : Tell us about your journey ?
It's been a challenging one. When i started out as a model , I had certain plans regarding my professional life but nothing turned out like the way it was thought of. I had to go with the flow of the business. As a model i did pretty okay . I got the chance to work with leading brands like Close-up ,ITC hotels , Jabong , Uber , Coca-cola etc . 

What are the challenges you faced in playing/ portraying characters in a foreign language ?
I recently shot for two south indian films . One is telugu and the second one is trilingual (telugu , tamil ,hindi) . Honestly, It's not easy working down south . Especially for a north indian girl like me but my crew members have been supportive. A language coach was hired to smooth out my dialogue delivery.

There has been a wave on women oriented movies, what’s your take on this?
Thats true . I was blown away by Alia Bhatt's Gangubai kathiawadi . She was a perfection in the movie. My mother loved Kangana Ranaut in Thalaivi and Tapsee in thappad . I would love to be a part of such cinema but i think i have to be a big star to pull something like this successfully. 

Tell us about your experience working in the South Indian industry, how is it different from the Hindi film industry?
The call sheet is drastically different. 

In south they start rolling at 7 am no matter what ?
Bollywood takes liberty. South Industry is a boon for newcomers whereas Hindi film industry doesn't have much conviction in outsiders . 

Are you always conscious in selecting your next role/character or do you go with the flow?
I have been choosy but hey , let me tell you as a newcomer i have been at the receiving end . 

Your idol role?
I want to do biopics.

Your future projects?
Two telugu films are slated to release this year . Two webseries . One titled as "Lost" for Eros' upcoming OTT platform and another one called "Highdose" . It has been produced by a popular Marathi film production 'Shonali films' , directed by Dilip vasudev . I play one of the leads names Revathi.