Preeti starts off with a bang

In ‘Gaalipatam’, I play a contemporary girl who works for a software firm. She’s traditional at the office, but once she is out of it, she’s a free bird and has a different shade to her - Preeti Rana

Even before her first film ‘Aa Aiduguru’ has hit the screens, model-turned-actress Preeti Rana has commenced shooting for three other films, i.e. a film with Aadi (‘Gaalipatam’), a film with Koti’s son Rajeev and a Hindi flick ‘Ekkis Chatrapathi Shivaji Marg’ alongside the likes of Riteish Deshmukh, Raza Murad and Sharat Saxena.

Her stint with the silver screen began, thanks largely to the spark that her event manager spotted in her. “I was the fundraiser and branch manager for a cancer cure NGO based in Pune. I also participated in two pageant events. It was during this period my event manager, who is also into casting, asked me to give a shot at acting. I took his advice, landed in Hyderabad and started auditioning for films,” she recalls.

The Punjabi-born actress says, “Film critic Mahesh Katthi suggested that I approach producer Prem Patra after he felt that I was a miscast for his debut film. I’ve met Patra and auditioned for ‘Aa Aiduguru’ before impressing the director. During the shooting of the film, I was offered another film opposite Koti’s son Rajeev.”

Speaking about her role in ‘Aa Aiduguru’, she shares, “I play an IT employee Sindhu with a modern mindset. She falls for a guy, but somehow things don’t go according to plan, resulting in her engagement to someone else. However, she directs her former lover on the right career track.”

Talking how about how she landed in Sampath Nandi’s production ‘Gaalipatam’, she informs, “Shooting for Rajeev’s film, I was told about an opening. The executive producer of the film spotted me at a gym where he works out too and after few days I was called for the audition. Later I met Sampath who said, ‘The girl is good and let’s go for a photo shoot.’ The next day I auditioned and bagged the project.”

She is one of the three female leads of the film, the other two being Kristina Akheeva and Erica Fernandez. “I once again play a contemporary girl who works for a software firm. She’s traditional at the office, but once she is out of it, she’s a free bird and has a different shade to her,” she laughs. On her Hindi film, she says, “It’s a docu-drama, inspired from acid attack and rape victims. I play a fearless journalist who is on a sting operation. Lata Mangeshkar has crooned a number for the film.”