An ethical hacker with a father who has Alzheimer’s, Anuradha is weighed down by the cares of the world. But she has no idea what is coming her way when her father finds himself implicated in a crime, and she is forced to prove his innocence. November Story, a Tamil series recently released on Disney+Hotstar, has turned out to be a huge hit. And the actor who brings Anuradha to life in this haunting crime thriller is Tamannaah Bhatia, popularly known as Tammu.
The glam girl from Mumbai who has a strong fan base in south India is the new sensation in the Tamil digital space after her chilling performance in November Story. With minimal makeup and tamped-down glamour, Tamannaah lived as her character during the making of November Story. An actor who loves to experiment with roles, explore empowering characters and read varied scripts, Tamannaah is satisfied that she has carved out a space for herself in the south Indian film industry. “November Story actually helped me explore another side of myself,” she says. “I was looking for the kind of content which I have never done in my career. Even the script was very different from the ones I have done in the past 15 years. It is a completely different genre. I had to do my homework well to delve into the character. It was like learning a different form of cinema. In the [digital] medium, the script has to be very strong to bring alive the character.”
Tamannaah never dreamt she would make it so big in south Indian cinema when she started out in 2005. Inspired by Sridevi, her dream to become an actor began when she was studying at the Maneckji Cooper School in Mumbai. She used to learn all Sridevi’s dialogues. While doing a seven-day course at Prithvi Theatre in class eight, her teacher, Neeraj Kabi, recommended her name to a producer and that is how she landed her first film, Chand Sa Roshan Chehra (2005), when she was just 15 years old.
Since then, Tamannaah has had a roller-coaster journey full of ups and downs. After her successful debut, she made her way to Hyderabad when she got an offer from Mohan Babu to act in the Telugu movie Sree (2005), opposite his son, Manoj Manchu. Just before her Class 10 boards, she met with Babu for the opportunity. After Sree, there was nothing to keep Tamannaah from becoming a hit in the south. Happy Days (2007) opened up further opportunities in Tollywood, while Kalloori (2007) got her a foothold in Kollywood. Tamannaah’s graph in the south Indian film industry saw a steady rise after her role as Avantika in S.S. Rajamouli’s Baahubali (2015). After this, she played Keerti, the secretary-cum-caretaker of a quadriplegic, in the Telugu movie Oopiri (2016), which was remade as Thozha in Tamil.
And now, she has forayed into the digital space as well, with her roles in the web series 11th Hour, released earlier this year, and November Story. When asked whether she chose her roles in big budget films like Baahubali or Sye Raa Narasimha Reddy (2019), opposite actor Chiranjeevi, she says they have all come her way and she never had to choose. Both these films taught her hard lessons in how to transform herself to play strong characters. “Period films are not the easiest genre. It is a lot more intense when we have to play such roles,” she says.
But now, with November story, Tamannaah feels she can turn from period dramas to more content-oriented films with strong women characters. “The digital platform gives this opportunity,” she says, adding that this transition opens up huge possibilities. But being a fan of action adventures, Tamannaah loved her roles in Baahubali and Sye Raa Narasimha Reddy.
She feels the idea of a star which existed until a decade ago has changed. “People want better content, with the OTT platforms offering them variety,” she says. According to industry watchers, Tamannaah is now up there in the south Indian cinema hierarchy, along with Nayanthara, Samantha and Hansika.
Looking forward, Tamannaah wants to do characters that represent women of today. The days when women were used to add glam value to films are over, she feels. “It is not just because movies influence society,” she says. “It is because what is happening around us also influences cinema. Women are not ornamental anymore. Even I started out as being ornamental, which was how it was in those days. But now there is a lot more stress and focus on celebrating women.” After getting into the digital space, she now wants to portray onscreen the star who has always inspired her. “I would love to do a biopic on Sridevi and her journey as an artist,” signs off Tamannaah.