Sharmila Mandre- From curvy to super hot

Here’s what mingling with colleagues from various other film industries can do to a young star — get her totally motivated. Even before she began her career in the Kannada film industry, actor Sharmila Mandre had been a headturner.

But her recent transformation has brought to fore yet another aspect of her personality — determination. One look at her latest portfolio and you’ll see what we are talking about.

“It’s all about self motivation,” insists Sharmila. “It’s a great feeling to be fit. And once you see the results on yourself, you just want to keep at it,” she explains. Unlike actors who work extra hard to fit into a role, for Sharmila, it was a trip to Toronto, for the IIFA, that got her mind ticking.

“Looking at heroines from various industries present there — both from Bollywood and the South, I figured that I really had a long way to go. Everybody is so fit and that’s important for an individual both on the personal as well as the professional front. It was almost like a wake-up call,” admits the actor, who adds, “I was quite heavy as a kid. I did cut down a number of sizes before I began my career as an actor, but I had gotten tired of being described as the ‘cherubic’ actor. Words like sleek or sexy were never in the picture. To go that extra step is the toughest part of fitness and it was tedious and gruelling. But I am totally over the moon with the results.”

Incidentally, the transformation has come just in time for Sharmila’s debut in the Tamil film industry. She is currently shooting for Thillu Mullu, a romantic comedy, opposite Tamil actor Vinay Rai. “I play a rather subdued, young girl from London in this film, but it has nothing to do with my increase in fitness levels,” points out Sharmila. However, she adds, “A debut, especially in another language, is a very important thing. And I did give it my best — including brushing up on the language. I will be dubbing for myself as well.”

While Sharmila has never been the sort to sign up for every project that came her way, she explains, “I believe that people recognise and appreciate you for the good films that you have been a part of. I have restricted myself to working on just three or four films a year and I am happy with the work I have done so far.”

With her Tamil film hitting the screens this October; and the fact that she looks the way she does now, Sharmila may soon be attracting all the good films in the
future.