South actress Gayathri on playing IT officer in Raid: 'Glamour without substance eventually gets vapid'

Mumbai: Actress Gayathiri, after doing projects in the southern movie industry, is making her Bollywood debut with the role of an income tax sleuth in Raid. Happy to work with Ajay Devgn, she says she is glad to foray in Hindi filmdom with a non-glamorous part. [caption id=“attachment_4393277” align=“alignnone” width=“825”]  Gayathri[/caption] Raid is directed by Rajkumar Gupta and also features Ileana D’Cruz. “I’m glad my debut is with a non-glam and realistic role. Even in the south, I leaned towards roles which didn’t require me to be just a pretty prop. It’s not that I dread running around trees (I have done that and enjoyed it too). It is just that glamour without substance (in a role or otherwise) eventually gets vapid,” Gayathiri said in a statement. On working with Ajay, she said, “I know Ajay sir is a very good actor and a big star but what really struck me was how he is completely apolitical and everything he says or does seems to have so much integrity and I was thinking that with this star power combined with his integrity, he could be a very strong social influence. Of course, I couldn’t bring myself to suggest such gyan to him in person.” She is also looking forward to working more with Gupta. “I was excited to debut in Bollywood with his direction, especially since he gave a landmark role to Vidya Balan (No One Killed Jessica), a south origin actress herself. But because of the huge ensemble cast in Raid, he could hardly communicate individually to us. Hope I get to work with him again,” Gayathiri said. In the southern film industry, the actress has worked in Kannada movies and awaits the release of her Telugu debut film in June. Originally from Kerala, Gayathiri has learnt taekwondo.