For Kannada actor Tejaswini, acting happened most unexpectedly. Tejaswini was like most of us, a college graduate with dreams of pursuing CA. As fate would have it, a serial director from the Kannada industry approached her with an acting offer asking for an audition.
Escalating with something new
Born and raised in Mysore, after that moving to Hassan and then Bangalore. She stepped in the space of the acting industry with no background in acting.
Through sheer dedication to a profession, she came to fall in love with her projects. Six years later, Tejaswini now feels ready to land herself a role in the movies too. “My father was a doctor, and he wanted me to become a doctor or an IAS officer,” says Tejaswini.
She was hesitant about her decision to take up acting. Tejaswini went along with the flow and took up what came her way making her debut with Kannada serial Madhubala.
Fame and Recognition
Although having debuted in Madhubala, Kannada serial Soubhagyavathi became the first show where people started noticing her. As her fan base grew, friends and relatives too started noticing and helped her get support from her parents in pursuing a field she started enjoying.
Hectic Schedules and Struggles
As a newcomer in the industry, the actor found herself lucky to have faced little or no discrimination and learnt a lot from all her directors. Even though her journey into acting started so unexpectedly, she still had little knowledge about facing a camera or knowing makeup.
If she had not been an actor, Tejaswini might have been a CA. As offers started pouring in since her first success with Soubhagyavathi, Tejaswini took up offers from Telugu and Tamil serials as well. She divided her time for shoots travelling between Hyderabad, Chennai and Bangalore, trying to keep up with a hectic schedule.
“Staying away from my family was difficult,” says Tejaswini as she tried to find time off to travel back to her hometown in Hassan. After meeting with a minor accident, Tejaswini decided not to continue shooting with such a hectic travel schedule and did not take another Kannada serial offer which was to be shot in Mumbai.
But then she realised that she would not have enjoyed and found as much satisfaction taking up any other career as she has found in this.
Having worked in all three industries in the South, Tejaswini admits to enjoying working in Kannada serials the most because it involves live recording. Unlike Telugu and Tamil serials where her voice is dubbed, Kannada serials allow her to express her own voice and acting which feels more natural to her.
Believe in yourself. Anything is possible.
The actor strongly believes in following the right path and being true to her values. Having had little experience in the industry during her initial years, she declined quite a few movies offers but feels ready for it now.
She has the same message for all aspiring actors, to be dedicated to their dreams and goals without compromising on their values.
During a time when social media has made it easy to spread hate, she asks her fans to spread positivity and not judge people based on their on-screen roles and characters.
Today, the actor is back on screen with a new Kannada serial directed by Lokesh, titled Sangarsha. She is playing the role of a DC. Tejaswini enjoys the position where she can relate to the character. Apart from having the chance to be seen in the role of a government official, it is something close to what her father had wished for her to be.
Tejaswini finds her inspiration in Bollywood actor Kangana Ranaut and her on-screen presence and is also a fan of Kannada actor Vishnuvardhan.
