Mainstream filmmakers must show female actors in challenging roles: Paavana Gowda

Paavana Gowda’s filmography features more than a dozen films. “But whenever I meet filmmakers, they’d say ‘yes, we’ve heard of you and your acting skills, but we haven’t watched your films’. Since most of the films I’ve acted in until recently are what you’d call bridge cinema, I was probably getting lost in the melee. So the dream to reach out to mainstream audiences, remained elusive,” shares Paavana. But that is set to change because Paavana features in the upcoming Ajnatavasi, a mainstream project directed by Janardhan Chikkanna and backed by Hemanth M Rao.
“It’s a film that taught me that stillness is equally important to an actor. Being a thriller, my character, Pankaja, had to convey a lot with her eyes. I now think that all the movies I’ve done so far were a preparation for this film. I’m happy that I’ve finally made a foray into mainstream cinema,” observes Paavana.