Actress Shweta Prasad in Kannada movies

Actress Shweta Basu Prasad, who has won a National Award as a child artist, is finally making her debut in Kannada films. Incidentally, this will be her first big signing after the controversy she courted last year; when her name was dragged into an alleged flesh trade racket. Since the incident, the actress has been quite reticent, and the makers of Devravne Budu Guru say that getting across to her wasn’t easy. “It was a tough task to procure Shweta’s numbers. Once I got it from the makers of her last Telugu film, she refused to talk or respond to the messages. Finally, it was through email that I got through to her. When she got to know that I wanted her in my film, she first asked me if it was for a special song and, if so, that trying to speak to her would be pointless. When I told her that it was for a substantial role, she asked me to email the script. But I told her that I’d rather narrate it in person for the right impact,” recalls director Pratham.

He adds, “I persisted, and when she finally called me, it was a conversation that lasted over an hour and a half. In the end, she asked me to come to Mumbai with the script, she was involved to such an extent that she even suggested fine tuning certain scenes and said that she was looking forward to being a part of the film.” Shweta plays a sort of a narrator, through whom the story of the film is revealed. Quiz the filmmaker about why he was particular about having Shweta in his film and he says, “I have admired her work for long. It is amazing that she won a National Award as a a child artist. I didn’t cast her because of controversy, but because I believe this is a good role for her to debut in the industry. Her debut is long pending here and I glad that she accepted my film. When our Industry can have an adult film star entering, why can’t we encourage a National Award Winner too?”.