After bucking the trend by not making her debut with a typical Bollywood masala film, actor Avantika Dassani has chosen a non-Hindi project — a Telugu film — as her second outing. “I take my time to choose different roles, and I am very happy about the response to my web debut, Mithya,” says Dassani, the daughter of actor Bhagyashree, who adds that it is too early to talk about her next as she is “still shooting” for it.

The one thing common between her debut series and the upcoming project is her roles aren’t the damsel in distress stereotype. “I don’t even remember the last film [I saw] that had dancing around the trees or a damsel in distress,” she notes.

The 27-year-old further tells us that she didn’t succumb to the pressure of taking up a Hindi film because she’s trying to keep her ear to the ground. “I want to see what’s working. I am open to everything. I am only picky about the story, characters and people I work with... As an actor, I don’t want to limit myself to anything. All experiences are welcome,” she ends.