Ramba, unquestionably tops the list of the Southern industry. Rajnikanth, Kamalhassan, Chiranjeevi, Venkatesh – name them and she has given super hits with them all in a short span of her arrival. Grapevine has it that Ramba was picked up by Producer-director Hariharan from the school-stage where she made a maiden appearance in a dance – to play the lead in a Malayalam film which went on to win a National award. Ramba is a fine blended cocktail of talent and sensuous beauty. She is about 75 films old – having starred in all four southern languages and is into Bollywood in all earnestness. Her recent films –‘ Unakaha Ellam Unakaha’, ‘Enrendrum Kadal’, ‘Poomahal Voorvalam’, ‘Minsara Kanna’ have all starred Ramba who made her presence felt. Her Bollywood exposure has made her more suave and confident. Down South she has a song sequence that spells an enticing glamour.

Q: You say you hail from a conservative family. How do you manage in the big bad world of films without linkups? Tell us about your lifestyle before you entered films.

A: I have no links and that is why there is no gossip about me. True that I hail from a conservative family. My dad was into cashew nut business and my brother, my sister and I were expected to be studious in school. We were barely exposed to the world outside. Never used to be a great moviegoer either. That is why it took the producer a great deal to convince my parents that I will be taken care of when he actually approached us for the role. I never used to even wear skirts. Initially when my grandparents watched me on the screen – they did not know which way to look. They were shocked to see me in skimpy attires. But now they have seen that I’m successful and have to look glamorous and have got used to the idea. I want to be a star first and then an actress. Whenever I have done glamorous roles I have been noticed in a big way. My songs especially in Hitler - with Chiranjeevi and Ullathai Allitha – with Karthik were superb hits. I can see that my fans like me that way.

I am basically very shy and used to peep from behind my mother’s back for quite a while. Even now I feel restricted to prance around as soon as I meet someone. That is why my heroes feel that I am playing it hard. It is not so. If I work with a hero in a film or two I begin to relax. Actually Govinda was terribly taken aback to see me blush while performing a bride on the first night. He said, ‘Ramba you are the first heroine who actually blushes to do these scenes’. He had to take me aside and talk it to me. Only then I could go through the scene.

Q: You have acted with most ‘Number Ones’ in the South. How is it that you have not yet been paired against Nagarjuna? You had only done a song with him in Hello Brother in Telugu. Which are the heroes you reveled working with?

A: I don’t know how it has not worked out yet. Every time we meet, we say we must work together. It is the same with Ram Gopal Varma. Whenever he sees me, he tells me that he is my fan. I guess he has no time for anyone else other than Urmila. I even asked him if he was really impressed by me, why then he does not cast me in his films. Whenever Chakri (Chakravarthy) calls he says, "Ramuji always talks about you". I will not believe in it until it is translated into action.

As for the heroes I loved working with all of them. It is undoubtedly a great experience working with Rajni and Kamal. You get to learn so much while you work with them. But I must say I have enjoyed working with every one of my heroes - be it Prashanth, Vijay, Karthik, or Parthiban. Every one of them literally, and this is not a mere PR statement. Difficult to name individually but I have been fortunate in hitting it off with all my co-stars.

Q: You have worked in the North and South. Do you feel that there is more exposure demanded of you in South than in Bollywood?

A: Definitely there is more exposure in the South, especially in Telugu films. In Bollywood there is demand for glamour, but there are also opportunities to perform. Kajol had plenty of scope for acting in ‘KKHH’ and so did Madhuri in ‘HAHK’. But in the Telugu industry as well as in Tamil films there is a lot of accent on body display. They insist on introducing a heroine in a swimming costume. More so after my film - Ullathai Allitha became such a grosser - every producer began to insist of showing me in a swimsuit. When that becomes a compulsion – it gets on you. I seem to have become the Indian version of Marlin Munroe. They expect me to do the flying attire scene in most of the films.

Q: What’s your ambition in life?

A: A career in films has come my way without even my dreaming about it. Ever since, I do not plan my life. I take life as it comes and by and large, I have been very lucky. I am terribly pampered by my fans. I have seen what glamour is all about. Anyway I want to prove to the world that being born as a girl child you are not a liability any more. They say a girl gets married and goes away leaving the parents to lament. But I want to take care of my parents even after I get married. I will not forsake my mother as she is very close to my heart. I want to be a good daughter.

Q: What is your favourite pastime?

A: Ask my brother Vasu. He is the one who perennially complains that I am always either watching TV or chatting on the phone with my friends, whenever I am at home. Somehow, I cannot stay put in the four walls doing nothing. I need to be on the move and if I have leisure I get bored to be alone. So, I get hooked on to the phone.