Actress Tamannaah Bhatia has battled against all odds in her career to create a name for herself in the Indian film industry. In 2005, the actress made her film debut at the age of 15 and went on to act in Hindi, Tamil and Telugu films right in the beginning of her career. Her performances earned critical acclaim and her films became a commercial success. In 2013, she did ‘Himmatwala’ with Ajay Devgn where her performance was badly criticised. This was followed by a series of disappointments like ‘Humshakals’, ‘Aagadu’ and ‘Entertainment’. But not one to get bogged down, Tamannaah bounced back with SS Rajamouli’s ‘Baahubali’ where she played a warrior princess. The film went on to become one of the highest grossing films on Indian cinema and Tamannaah’s performance was lauded. She takes the lead role in Madhur Bhandarkar’s next ‘Babli Bouncer’.

With rich content driven and commercial movies in her filmography, the actress has earned a pan-India reputation. Having spent almost two decades in the industry, Tamannaah feels a sense of contentment, and is yet driven by the passion of cinema and telling relevant stories. In this week’s #BigInterview, the actress opens up on her journey, her plans to navigate her career going forward, representing India on international platforms and more.

How would you define this phase of your career?
I think it’s definitely a phase of metamorphosis in many ways for me, especially as an actor. It’s a year where I have taken up parts which are nothing like what I’ve seen till date. In general, this year has been very satisfying. The beauty of it is a very artistic energy where you’re constantly becoming someone else. You’re channeling another character. I guess that’s what I’m really enjoying doing the most.

I also have a show for Amazon called ‘Jee Karda’ which is produced by Maddock Films. And that’s the show where I think I’m looking the closest to what I have, the kind of life I’ve led and the kind of person I am. I think it’s closest to the world I’ve lived in all along because I was primarily working in Telugu films. I think somewhere I was channeling their culture while I was born and brought up in Mumbai. I never really had a chance to present where I come from. The process is quite different and it’s a lot more immersive for me as an actor. I also have a film ‘Plan A Plan B’ with Riteish Deshmukh coming up.

As someone who has worked in both Hindi and South films, what is the major difference that you noticed over the years?
When I started working in the industry, the kind of roles that were written for women were quite different. It was always the love interest or the eye candy, the glam quotient, which is great. I am also a consumer of cinema where I’ve loved watching stuff where the leading lady is beautiful. That’s what Indian cinema is. Not that I look down upon it, because I’ve been a part of such films myself. I’ve admired it growing up. But I feel like today, after being in the industry for 17 years, I don’t think I’d want to repeat that. I don’t think the audience has seen me do so many films in that space. For me as an artist, it’s only natural to explore roles which are probably different and not already explored in my journey. So now I’ve moved on to doing a lot more me-centric stuff, where I can explore myself as an actor. And the good part is even as time has elapsed, the opportunities are a lot more now. Thanks to OTT, we are exposed to so much content all over the world. Because of that, our idea of good content has also changed. For me as an actor, it’s great. What I could not do 10-12 years ago, I can do now. Also what wouldn’t have been accepted 10-12 years ago, would probably be accepted now.

After doing ‘Baahubali’, did you expect you’ll be offered similar kinds of roles in Hindi films?
First of all, you cannot really compare anything with ‘Baahubali’. I think everyone in the film played a character we never thought of playing. Those were characters written in a very magnanimous way. I think ‘Baahubali’ opened a lot of doors for me. People started to realise I had so much more as an artist to offer, I wasn’t just the girl next door. There are so many layers to me as a person and even as an actor.

With ‘Babli Bouncer’, you got a solo film with a totally fresh concept. Are you happy with this new milestone in your career? As an actor, what are you really hungry for?
I am really happy. ‘Babli Bouncer’, where I am playing a bouncer, itself is a huge opportunity to represent a strong female character. The world is essentially male dominated and you don’t really see too many female bouncers, but actually there are a lot of female bouncers that we don’t know about. Of course internationally it’s common, but even in India it largely exists. But I guess a story has never been told about something like that. So that’s definitely a project that I’m very proud of.

You’ve worked with immensely popular actors like Siddharth, Manoj Manchu, Naga Chaitanya, Jr NTR, Chiranjeevi, Vikram. Is there anything you learnt from the whole experience?
I think all of them have a very strong sense of self. And I feel that I am now in that phase of my career that plays a huge part in becoming someone who the larger audience could relate to. Each of them are amazingly talented and maybe that’s why the audiences connect with them. The people feel so much for them. The more you are in touch with yourself, the more you can connect with others.

You once said that you have to bring a 2.0 version of yourself especially for the fan following you have. As an actor, how do you balance the needs of your fans and your own growth as an artist?
I think the idea is to constantly evolve. As much as I love the fans who’ve made me who I am today, it’s very important for me to constantly centre myself and bring myself to what I think I am. Because If I can’t do that to myself, I won’t be able to entertain the audiences in the truest, honest way. I am at such a phase of my career where I am not thinking what people are thinking. I’ve almost blinded myself about what people think about me.

Being in the entertainment industry for almost two decades, you’ve seen the film industry grow. Now with OTT, do you feel there’s a pressure of staying relevant?
I think as an artist, if you want to be relevant, you have to be forever evolving. If you’re not evolving as a human being, you’re not going to be able to evolve as an actor. Essentially, if you are in the film industry or in the entertainment business, you want to stay relevant because of the right reasons. I have noticed that people come into this field for name and fame and for what they think is a very glamour driven industry, but actually it’s quite a lot of labour. In my opinion, it’s a very laborious job in good clothes. So I feel like the relevance is something that is the only way one can survive being an artist. So one reason is that you want to evolve as a human being and as an artist, which is why you stay relevant, and another is that it’s your only way of existing in this environment.

For some people being an artist is a phase in their life. I don’t know who those people are, but I feel like if you are an artist and you feel like it’s a lifetime goal for you then the endeavour never really ends. And I don’t consider it a pressure because intrinsically, I get bored while I’m working on a film. This needs to happen fast otherwise my mind travels from here to there too fast. So to keep myself entertained so that I can entertain more people, I need to stay stimulated. So I feel like evolution needs to happen inside me, so I can entertain myself to start with.

You also have a very strong social media presence. How do you deal with the negativity and trolling?
I haven’t experienced much trolling, but having said that, it’s a byproduct of social media. I don’t pay much heed to it.

One piece of advice you would give to your younger self when you first started out…
Growing up I used to wonder how it would all work out. I was in a constant state of worry whether it would work out or not. Today I have a lot more faith. I would just ask her to have more faith and love, and accept herself for what she is. Today, we are in such a competitive environment, we often tend to be hard on ourselves. I feel like self love is something that my younger self required more.

First Cannes Film Festival, and now IFFM, you are surely on a roll this year with your presence at prestigious film festivals…
It’s definitely a lot of responsibility and I feel that pressure is probably not the right word. But there is this feeling of responsibility, that is probably the right word for when you are at such places representing your country. It’s also a great time to express what you actually stand for and what your industry stands for. And sometimes when you are the face, then it’s a great way of actually channeling what you truly believe in and bringing it out there for a larger world to see.

Representing India on a global platform also comes with a lot of expectations…
I feel like the only route that works is to be authentic and to be true to yourself when you go on a platform like this. To tackle this feeling of expectation one might experience when we go to another country and represent our own, my only process is to be my best self and what I intrinsically feel. Because I don’t think there can be anything else that you can base this on. I don’t think we can satisfy everyone, but the intention is to put out the most genuine, authentic and the best version of myself. I think that’s the only part I control and put my energies into.