I can keep a straight face: Kannada actress Ramya

Close on the heels of her successful Kannada film Sanju Weds Geetha, Kannada actor Ramya is back with promises of a different sort. While the last one made quite an impact for its tragic content, this time around, with Johnny, she says, “You just won’t stop laughing.”

Also starring Vijay and Rangayana Raghu, Ramya says it was the behind-the-scenes drama that automatically helped her prepare for each of her scenes. “This is the first time I am part of a comedy film. Initially, I thought I would find it tough, considering comedy is the toughest part of acting. But I think hanging out with my co-stars, who are absolutely hilarious off the screen as well, helped me prepare for what was to come,” she says.

In Johnny, Ramya plays the role of an NRI who has returned to India to stay at Gandhi Colony. “A lot of the comedy is centered around me as I play someone who does not know the language. So the guys around are constantly making fun of me, and though I knew exactly what they were saying, I was required to keep a straight face — which I found that I can!” she says.

Year 2011 sees the actress entering another phase of a career. After tiding over her recent controversy, Ramya has decided to take extra care while choosing her films, and of course the team she works with. “It’s been nine great years in the industry and now I feel that I need to sustain what I have achieved so far. So I plan to take up only good scripts that challenge me as an actor and performer. With Sanju Weds Geetha and Johnny, I have played two completely different characters. I have also signed up for Siddlingu, opposite Yogesh, wherein I play a deglamourised government school teacher. This one is a film I am looking forward to because the story revolves around a handful of characters and an old Ambassador car. The interesting bit about the process of filming is that we are actually having a script-reading session before we begin shoot. So I will be joining actors like Yogesh, Arundhati Nag and others for a four-hour reading session on June 4. That, again, is a first for a Kannada film,” she reveals.