She has not been seen in a Hindi film since Freaky Ali. The actress is still taking Hindi lessons on Skype while she maintains that she can have conversations in Tamil. However, the savvy girl is crystal clear about what her category is in B-Town, and has been unencumbered by role limitations. While she is doing well in the South and is even part of an Indo-Brit film now, there is a feeling she isn’t serious about Bollywood. In a freewheeling interface with After Hrs, Amy clears the air...
Do you feel that you lose out on a lot of films because of the language handicap?
I think it’s always on people’s minds. That’s why they cast me in particular roles. Obviously, they don’t expect me to do a village belle’s role with perfect Hindi. That’s not my category, I suppose. But the roles that are available aren’t a problem for me.
How do you communicate with South directors? Do you have a translator?
No, I have not done that actually, up till now. I was doing The Villain and that’s a totally different language. I feel at home in Chennai. I can have conversations in Tamil and I can understand everything. So no one can get away with anything (laughs). The Villain is a totally new territory and I am working with Apeksha from Akshay’s (Kumar) team. Akshay spoke in Hindi in 2.0, but it had to relate to the Tamil audience so when they dubbed it, the sync was there. Apeksha helped him on the sets and she was wonderful. I have stolen her and taken her now for The Villain. She speaks five to six different languages. So it’s nice to have that insight from her (smiles).
Are you dubbing for the film in different languages?
Yes, I think so. I guess they even plan to dub it in Chinese and release it there. Obviously, I won’t be speaking Chinese (laughs)! But yes, others languages I will be dubbing.
Are you well-versed with Hindi now?
I am still learning Hindi. I take my classes. I Skype occasionally with my tutor and I am speaking Tamil in 2.0. There, I had my tutor on sets for the dialogues. That was nice. It’s become a routine. So when I’m in Mumbai, I take classes here, otherwise, when I’m traveling, I am learning on Skype.
