Anu Prabhakar Mukherjee, an actress who predominantly appears in Kannada films started her acting career as a heroine in the hit film Hrudaya Hrudaya (1999) opposite Shivarajkumar. She then went on to become one of the most sought-after heroines in Kannada films. A skillful actor as she is, she then gradually moved into Tamil films with Arputham, Annai Kaligambal and Majaa, to name a few.

According to her, Aatagaara was the last film that she signed and switched to television, hosting the game show Bale Bangara on Zee Kannada and acting in the series Triveni Sangama. This was simply because most roles offered didn't appeal to her. "I love acting and don’t worry about the length of the role as long as I have something substantial to do. You can captivate the minds of the audience with whatever little you can do and that is important for me,” says the State Award-winning actress.

When asked about her experience in the television industry she said, “It (TV) has a larger reach compared to films. When I hosted the game show, I was still doing films. I believe TV brought me closer to my audience and fans and also gave me the opportunity to interact with them,” the actor says, adding that she also finds it “strenuous as it needs a long-time commitment. I did Triveni Sangama simply because it required only six months’ time.”

Now, she believes in choosing roles that support causes and inspire people, a change witnessed in Bollywood too. The beloved Akshay Kumar has been taking up social causes with patriotic messages with aplomb in his recent movies. The National Award-winning actor's film Padman was the latest in the genre. Akshay started it all with 2012's OMG: Oh My God.

Anu also supports social causes. “People follow actors keenly, so the onus is on our shoulders to convey messages that we think are important. For example, if Amitabh Bachchan says ‘get polio drops’, the whole nation obeys and we are successful in eradicating it. I am against belittling women on screen or those that make fun of people and their weaknesses. You have to demand basic respect for yourself and portray a character that inspires people in their lives.”

She is thrilled to be paired opposite Ramesh Aravind for Radhika Kumaraswamy’s trilingual Bhairadevi. “I liked what I was offered as there was enough scope for performance and also because I am acting with Ramesh after a long time. We have acted in quite a few films as leads in the past,” beams the actor, who plays Radhika’s sister in the film.

So, what is this film all about? She responds, “The film is about the paranormal. A genre that has never been attempted in Kannada films. Radhika has done her homework well, which made it easy for us to perform.”

Srijai directed the film and simultaneously shot in Kannada, Tamil, and Telugu. Anu is not new to multi-lingual productions. Earlier she was a part of Sri Kalikamba with Ramya Krishnan, which was made in Kannada and Tamil and later dubbed in Telugu. “The only challenge of acting in a multilingual film is we have to do the same shot with the same vigour and recreate the same emotion twice more for the other language versions. That was challenging,” says Anu.