Long before making her acting debut with the recently-releasedThumbaa, Keerthi Pandian was happily managing her father, actor-politician Arun Pandian’s business, which involved distributing films overseas. But the idea of getting into acting in movies was always there.

The transition into films was smooth because she has always had an inclination towards the arts, “whether it is a musical instrument or acting in a theatre play”. Having already appeared in short films and music videos, Keerthi ventured into theatre production, and her work has taken her across India. Says Keerthi, a trained salsa and ballet dancer, “Theatre is something I will never let go.” Excerpts from an interview:

You mentioned during a press meet that you were fortunate to debut with Thumbaa. What prompted you to sign the film?

I got this offer through my friend Ashwathi, who is also an actress. She introduced me to Harish Ram (director of Thumbaa). When I heard the narration, I instinctively said ‘yes’, which has never happened before. The first thing that hit my head was... ‘Okay, this is a movie that my niece can watch’.

Tell us more about your role.

I play Varsha, an aspiring wildlife photographer, who comes from an affluent family. She’s commissioned to take photos of the tigress in the film. During her journey, she meets two other characters (played by Darshan and Dheena), and their stories converge at a point with the presence of the tiger.

Thumbaa is an adventure movie shot in the forest. Do you have any favourites in the genre?

Yes, I love adventure movies. Growing up, I was a huge fan of Mowgli. I also like The Jungle Book and Tarzan.

During the film’s promotion, you broke down publicly and revealed that you’d been body shamed by directors in Tamil cinema. What exactly happened?

Actually, I was thanking my director (Harish) who didn’t demand any physical changes to my character. There have been auditions where I was rejected for my appearance. There’s a way in which you tell your actors, right? You can’t body shame them saying you’re too skinny, and you won’t look good on screen. And these comments came from established directors. I thought I overcame the situation, but it crushed me a lot. Plus, you just don’t do this to your artistes.

What’s your favourite Arun Pandian film?

I really like Oomai Vizhigal. I think it was far ahead of its time. That’s one film that anybody could relate to even today.

What are your future projects?

I’m listening to scripts. I just finished shooting a web series called Postman (starring Munishkanth) in which I play one of the lead characters.