Anu Prabhakar Mukherjee debuted as a heroine in the hit film Hrudaya Hrudaya opposite Shivarajkumar. She then went on to become one of the most sought-after heroines in Kannada films.Known for her acting prowess, she gradually also forayed into Tamil films with Arputham, Annai Kaligambal and Majaa, to name a few. Now, Anu has taken a back seat simply because “most roles don’t appeal to me. I love acting and don’t worry about the length of the role as long as I have something substantial to do. You can captivate the minds of the audience with whatever little you can do and that is important for me,” says the State Award-winning actress. After Aatagaara, she says she did not sign anything but switched to television, hosting the game show Bale Bangara on Zee Kannada and acting in the series Triveni Sangama. About her TV stint Anu says, “It has a larger reach compared to films. When I hosted the game show, I was still doing films. I believe TV brought me closer to my audience and fans and also gave me the opportunity to interact with them,” the actor says, adding that she also finds it “strenuous as it needs a long-time commitment. I did Triveni Sangama simply because it required only six months time.” Now, Anu is thrilled to be paired opposite Ramesh Aravind for Radhika Kumaraswamy’s trilingual Bhairadevi. “I liked what I was offered as there was enough scope for performance and also because I am acting with Ramesh after a long time. We have acted in quite a few films as leads in the past,” beams the actor, who plays Radhika’s sister in the film. What is Bhairadevi all about? She responds, “The film is about the paranormal. A genre that has never been attempted in Kannada films. Radhika has done her homework well, which made it easy for us to perform.” The film is directed by Srijai and was simultaneously shot in Kannada, Tamil and Telugu. Anu is not new to multi-lingual productions. Earlier she was a part of Sri Kalikamba with Ramya Krishnan, which was made in Kannada and Tamil and later dubbed in Telugu. “The only challenge of acting in a multilingual film is we have to do the same shot with the same vigour and recreate the same emotion twice more for the other language versions. That was challenging,” says Anu, who was first launched by Parvathamma Rajkumar for Hrudaya Hrudaya. “I got into acting accidentally. I was still studying in Mount Carmel when this offer came. Once the film was done, I decided to take up acting as a career. Working with Parvathamma was more like working with a whole team. She was an exceptional filmmaker and supported me a lot,” says Anu, whose name is synonymous with the hit song “Onde Usirinanthe” with Ramkumar in Snehaloka, composed by Hamsalekha. “The breathless song is one that everyone still talks about,” laughs the actor. “The song was actually made for another film, Habba, but as it had not turned out well technically, it was not used. The same song was used later for Snehaloka. Shooting for that song was tough. I had to learn my whole song — three-sheets of paper — overnight and was told it was going to be shot in one go. I still remember how I panicked and mugged up the lines through the night, rewinding and playing the tape recorder umpteen times. The song went on to be a huge hit. It was worth the effort as we did not miss the words or expressions. Each stanza was one long shot and we finished it in four shots. Anu also supports social causes. “People follow actors keenly, so the onus is on our shoulders to convey messages that we think are important. For example, if Amitabh Bachchan says ‘get polio drops’, the whole nation obeys and we are successful in eradicating it. I am against belittling women on screen or those that make fun of people and their weaknesses. You have to demand basic respect for yourself and portray a character that inspires people in their lives.”

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