Practice to make Amrita perfect?

Amrita Rao is attending acting workshops these days for Shyam Benegal's next film. Hiren Kotwani chats with the actress.

Amrita Rao is on a high these days after landing a role in Shyam Benegal's next film, tentatively titled Mahadev. The petite actress is already busy preparing for her role. For starters, Rao has called for the DVDs of Benegal's movies.

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"I'm so thrilled that I'm watching his films to get more familiar with his kind of cinema. I've just seen Mandi.. and was bowled over by it. I want to see all his films before we start shooting."

Practice makes perfect
She is also familiarising herself with the North Indian dialect used in Mahadev.

"We had a three-day workshop recently at Shyam babu's office, to read our lines and understand the dialect. We'll have another workshop soon. In the meanwhile, we're practicing the dialect. Shyambabu wants us to be well-prepared before we begin shooting."

The actress, who has never been to an acting institute, says, "The experience of training under the director is like learning on the job. It's more real."

She further continues, "It's a new experience for me, preparing for the character by way of workshops. I think every director should work this way."

Meeting the hero
She met Shreyas Talpade, who will play the lead in Mahadev, on the sets of Shah Rukh Khan's Om Shanti Om.

Rao has also signed up for Anil Kapoor's next project with Akshaye Khanna and Arshad Warsi and David Dhawan's soon-to-start movie with Siddharth of Rang De Basanti fame.

"But my next release is Athidi, a Telugu flick with Mahesh Babu," she signs