Preeti Butani : Aspiring to reach the top

By: Ashok Bhatia (PRO)
Monday, August 20, 2007

South film Industry has gained more popularity than Bollywood today. The demand for the regional language films in India is quite high and a large audience has a craze towards it. Having a strong regional filmy background, an actor can make a quick mark in the Hindi cinema as well.

Acting talent is inherited by some people while others go through a lot of struggle to make a place in this field. A successful person works very hard to achieve his goals. Preeti Butani is one such actress who has managed a place for herself in this film industry after a tremendous struggle. No one in her family hails from a filmy background. Regarding her non filmy background, Preeti said, "My family cannot associate with films even in the dreams as we are the Rudivadi Sardar and are too strict about our culture and values. I basically hailed from Faridabad and have done my education from Delhi. My father is in the air force and my mother is a teacher. Hailed from such a background and thinking about films is a big thing indeed".

Preeti further added, "Frankly speaking even I had never thought of getting into films initially. I planned to get into a job and hence I chose commerce as my main stream of studies. But destiny had something else in store for me. I managed to get into films without even taking any formal training. I used to participate in dramas' and stage shows in school and college. My potential in these extra curricular activities started getting recognition and appreciation. Soon a group was formed within the college that did a number of successful shows together. I was a part of that group. Since then I started getting many modeling offers and I started modeling along with studies. Gradually, I became so involved in acting that I started concentrating on it and decided to make it my career." This is how Preeti's inclination towards acting gradually developed and she decided to come down to Mumbai and work. Considering her inclination and potential in this field, her family also extended support to her.

She further said, "On coming to Mumbai, I got an opportunity to work in two short films with Tanuja Chandra. Working with her is no less than working in a learning institution. I got to learn a lot over there. During that time, I also did some ad films. One of them was an ad film for Nitish Builder. Later I also learn Kathak from Sitara Devi's daughter Jayanti Mala."

Preeti Butani got true recognition on the big screen only after she was casted against Sharad Kapoor in the film Jani Dushman. There was a big cast in the film, but her bold appearance and outstanding performance made her gain tremendous recognition and applaud.

Today the scenario is such that Preeti is getting many offers and she is absolutely occupied in her acting career. She also got an opportunity to work with Rajpal Yadav in Ladies Tailor. In this film she played a character named Flora. Her graceful appearance and acting talent attracted the audience towards her. Though the film did not do well at the box office but Preeti managed to use it as a ladder to her growth and success.

She confirmed, "After doing a number of Bollywood films, I started getting offers from the South as well. She has done two Tamil films Idu Kadal Varun Paruvam, directed by Kasturi Raja and Mard Walav paired opposite super star Arjun. Apart from this, I am also doing two Kannada films.

"I am getting many offers from the South today and I am accepting most of them, but that doesn't mean that I will not do Hindi films. Recently I have done a kids film titled King No.1. I am also doing K Sara Production film 'Ek- the power of one'. I am doing another film with Neeraj Pathak and Girish Mishra. But yes in today's date I am doing more South Indian films than Bollywood", Preeti quips.

Being a Punjabi, Preeti is also interested in doing Punjabi films. On being asked she said, "I have never thought about it as I have not got any offers from Punjabi film. Given an opportunity I don't mind doing a film in my mother tongue. I am not biased to work in any language. Today apart from Hindi, I am doing films in Tamil, Telugu, Kannada and Malayalam.

Preeti further reveals, "Language is not at all a barrier in the acting field. Your acting ability and talent is given more preference than the language. This is the only reason that I have been able to perform in so many languages. Though I am from the North, I have a good knowledge of different languages and I can grasp languages very easily.

On being asked about the difficulties and negativities that one has to face to grow in the film industry. She said, "I have been fortunate enough to get associated with good people in the industry. I strongly believe that if you are good, then good things happens to you always. I thoroughly enjoyed my career in the industry so far and I am sure that I will enjoy the entire tenure".