Dancer and theatre artiste Archana Kumar makes her film debut with The Rose Villa

Bengaluru-based dancer and theatre actor Archana Kumar is super excited about her first film outing. Archana is a part of the cast of the Telugu-Kannada bilingual The Rose Villa, which also marks Dia actor Dheekshith Shetty’s Tollywood debut, The film is a crime thriller that also stars Raja Raveendar and Swetaa Varma. "This is my first venture as an actor. I had earlier done a very minor part in Gudugudiya Sedi Nodo, in which I played a tribal soothsayer. The Rose Villa is my big break in films," she says.In the film, Archana and Raja Raveendar play an elderly couple who stay at a villa on the outskirts of the city. "We play a happy-go-lucky couple who love our house very much and who love to have guests over." Elaborating on her experience of working with director Sai Hemanth Kumar, for whom the film is a launch pad, she says, "There was a lot of real time learning that was happening for all of us on this film. It was great to learn from him about certain nuances of filmmaking," she adds.As a dancer and theatre actor, how was the experience of working in front of the camera? "Acting was easy, but the real challenge for me was to understand the technicalities like looking at the camera and which one to look at and when. But I picked it up soon enough. Also, Dheekshith and Raja sir helped me and gave me tips all along. It was a huge learning for me," says Archana.