Pressure to be glam is killing:Sam

To use a cliche, there’s more to Sameera Reddy than what meets the eye. It’s just that what meets the eye when you meet the tall, striking actress is pretty good to look at, so it’s no surprise that people miss the other stuff. That other stuff includes the fact that she’s a trained classical dancer, a business buff, a techno freak and a former-fat kid. “Oh yes, I was a chubby kid. But it was a jyotishi who told me that I would be an actress. I was around 14 or 15 years old then, and it made my father laugh. He said, ‘She’ll probably be married in a few years, or she’ll go into business with me.’ But I did it!” says Sameera with a grin. That business bit – was her father serious about that? “Oh, I’m a business freak!” Sameera laughs. “I’d much rather figure out what stocks are hot or which shares to pick up than read gossip about filmstars. And even my mobile game (yes, she has her own mobile game) is a way of doing business. If I’m good enough to be a brand on my own, why not exploit it?” Smells perfectly corporate. What about life in cinema – she’s done very diverse roles in regional cinema, hasn’t she? “When I was doing Ishq kabhi kariyo na in Goa, I was juggling it with Kaalpurush in Kolkata. So, I was shuttling between being super-glam, and being as simple as possible. I’m a director’s person. The shift doesn’t worry me.” And being ultra-glam – does that worry her? “I love being called hot. It’s made me what I am. But there’s this pressure to be glamorous all the time,” she says. “It’s killing. One bad day and they rip you apart. The sorts of pictures of me that are published and the sorts of things that are written about – it used to worry my father till some time ago. But when I was on vacation with my family a few times, and there was gossip that I was elsewhere, that’s when he began to be reassured that most of it was concocted.” But she makes sure she switches off from it all when she’s off work. “My phone’s off, I’m unreachable – when I’m off, I’m off,” Sameera says. “I like to keep what’s personal, personal. Even when journalists say they’d like to see my house or meet my family, I refuse. There are always two people – the star and the person. Never confuse the two. I mean, I have to do other things in life. I have to settle down, maybe get into production with my sis...” Huh? “My sister Sushma wants to get into production now. That’s her new baby. Since I do want to get into business one way or another, let’s see. There’s so much to do. You can’t do all that if you keep thinking you’re this diva,” she smiles.