Vimala Raman is said to be elated with her first Bollywood project, Amrapali, a remake of the 1966 classic which starred Sunil Dutt and the gorgeous Vyjayanthimala in the lead role of a prostitute. Vimala will take on Vyjanthimala‘s role in the movie, which will have to work hard to live up to the stunning historical battle scenes, tears and tragedy of the original – but what a wonderful opportunity for Vimala to show her strengths. With Ashutosh Gowariker said to be at the helm, the film has every opportunity to succeed.
Vimala, a former Miss India Australia whose talent is finally becoming recognised – she has a particular look that could kill at twenty paces – also recently signed up for her first English movie Dam 999 with Barry John and Linda Arsenio. The film is based on the nine rasas or human emotions of the Ayurveda. Rajit Kapur stars as the hero of the movie who meets up with different personifications of the rasas – the hero, the clown, the depressive, the seductress (Tulip Joshi!), the compassionate (Vimala), the wrathful, the curious, the peaceful and the fearful.
The actress has been winning rave reviews for her performances down south, most recently in the superhit Kannada movie Aaptha Rakshaka with Vishnuvardhan and Sandhya. The movie is an historical epic involving cursed paintings, the spirits of snake gods, glamour, comedy and tragedy in equal measures in one of those roller-coaster thrill-rides that Bollywood has almost forgotten how to produce. Her next masala movie will be Ranga The Donga with Srikanth.
