The Bhojpuri industry is abuzz with news of Ravi Kishan's new co-star who's none other than Rambha.
But Rambha blushes a beetroot. "Ravi and I have completed three films. And there are a couple of others. But I'm not doing these films because of Ravi. I've very strong roles. In Banke Bihari MLA I play a lawyer who supports and encourages Ravi. "
In Bihar recently, Rambha was very excited about meeting Laloo Yadav. "I had heard such stories about Bihar. But now that I'm here I realize there's nothing wrong with the place. Yes, the people were a little rough. But Raviji took good care of me."
Quite a hit in Bollywood for some years, Rambha disappeared into the South....only to re-surface now as Ravi Kishan's heroine in a series of Bhojpuri films.
In fact Rambha was in Patna on Wednesday to celebrate the success of one of her films Banke Bihari MLA with Ravi.
They're doing several other films together.
"They love me in Bhojpuri films," says Rambha. "I've done films in so many regional languages. Basically I love acting. The language doesn't matter. I didn't plan any language. When I got an offer in Bhojpuri I thought, why not? But I told the producers I can't speak the language at all."
In fact Rambha went through 5-6 years of career in Hindi with her voice dubbed by dubbing artistes. "I'm from Andhra and yes, the North Indian languages were a problem. I used to mug my Hindi lines written in English. Professional artistes including Padmini Kolhapure dubbed for me in Hindi."
Now Rambha has professional artistes dubbing for her in Bhojpuri.
"I'm from Vijaywada in Andhra Pradesh. It doesn't matter which language I'm working in. I've never asked for work. I did my first film Sargam in Telugu when I was Standard 7. And I got a National award. I've never planned anything.
I didn't even want to become an actress. I'm a misfit in the film industry. Every time I finish with films in one language I feel this is the end of my career and I need to settle down. But then a new phase starts in my career."
Marriage? " My parents have given me the freedom to decide when I want to marry. But my career still going way. It isn't as if I've never been in love. But I never expressed it to the other person. I've been working for 12 -13 years. Yeah it's a long time."
For the last one month Rambha was hospitalized for typhoid. "But after a week I was anxious to get back to work. I know no other life. I'm happy to be doing Bhojpuri films now."