Vasundhara interview: On turning author and disappointments with the Tamil film industry

Why Tamil actress Vasundhara debuted as an author with a mystery novel and how she looks back at the Tamil film industry.

“Writing is almost as difficult as being on a diet,” laughs Vasundhara.

Familiar with fans of Tamil cinema, thanks to her performances in films like ThenmerkuParuvakaatru,Thalaikoothal and Kanguva, among others, Vasundhara recently forayed into writing. She has debuted as an author with The Accused (Westland), a mystery that features Inspector Rajesh trying to crack his first murder case.

“When we are constantly exposed to news, we start posting our theories on it. When you say something often enough, it becomes the truth. The idea of The Accused stemmed from that; how people make assumptions about a suspect even before the investigation kicks in,” she explains about her debut novel.

Her tryst with words started many years ago, when as a young girl, she used to receive books as gifts. “My family was into reading. I used to get a lot of books as gifts, and really got into it,” she says, recalling the many days that went into sinking her thoughts into the Secret Seven and Famous Five novels.

When she was 13, she wrote a sci-fi novel, something she reveals with much hesitation. “I always wanted to be an author or a journalist.”

A day on the sets

Life had other plans, because when she was in Class XII, popular Tamil director Saran spotted her photograph somewhere and cast her in a small role in the Arya-starrer Vattaram (2006). “It was a rather inaccurate representation of how the film industry was... because it was such a safe and friendly set. They treated me like a kid who had to be protected. Based on that experience, I fell in love with the film industry,” she recalls.