I’m copying Kareena: Tamannaah

She’s doing double shifts — in tinseltown, it signifies that an actor has arrived. But Tamannaah Bhatia, the current toast of the Tamil industry, prefers to play it cool even though she’s being chased by top film-makers.

Besides Ayan, her roster now reads of biggies like Paiyya with Karthi and Kandein Kaadhalai, the remake of Jab We Met, with Bharath.

“Right now, I’m focusing only on Kandein Kaadhalai,” says Tamannaah. “I’m in love with the script and have watched the original eight times. I’m also a huge fan of Kareena Kapoor,” she confesses. The actress also admits that comparisons between Kareena and her have already come her way. “In the beginning, I felt pressured about how I’d portray the popular character.

But I decided I’d copy Kareena because we’re sticking to the original story,” she says. Tamannaah also tells us that except for the locations, everything else in Kandein…, including the styling, will be the same as the original.

And her co-star Bharath, she says, has already started behaving like Shahid! “He’s even looking like him, sporting those rimless glasses, jeans, tees and jackets. In fact, when we were doing the photoshoot for the film, Bharath even insisted that the songs of Jab We Met be played in the background,” laughs Tamannaah. A little-known known secret is that Imtiaz Ali, the director of JWM, even sent the Kandein… team a video clip for their mahurat, wishing them luck.

Meanwhile, the popular liplock sequence of the original will not feature in the Tamil version. “Yes, the kiss is not happening. It’s just an expression of love, but there are many other ways to portray that emotion,” she explains, adding that even sporting a bikini is a no-no for her.

While she’s non-controversial, Tamannaah has reportedly upset colleague Nayanthara as she replaced the glam girl in Paiyya. “That was a mutual decision between her and the producer. This happens all the time in the industry and if not me, somebody else would’ve done it,” she says.

As for heading to B-town, the actress’ project with the Barjatyas is on hold, “but I’m not in a hurry, because Telugu and Tamil are top priority,” says the Punjabi kudi.