Poonam Pandey, who shot extensively in Hyderabad and Visakhapatnam for her trilingual film Malini & Co, is upbeat about the film’s prospects.

“I had been getting many offers from T’town, but I was waiting for a performance-oriented character. And when director Veeru K. narrated the story I immediately agreed to play Malini.

“I play a masseuse, but there are some  ‘terror’ angles too… It’s not all about skin show and  I was very happy to have been offered the role,” says Poonam.

“I do not want to stand on roof tops and yell ‘Poonam is more than an item girl’, but I believe my performance will prove that to the audience,” she adds.

Talking about the director, Poonam says, “Veeru is a quick director. He does his job well. Unlike other directors he would not sit and waste time. He would immediately set up the camera and start shooting.

“We would complete six to seven scenes in a day. He also praised my performance and said ‘I have never seen such a dedicated actress’.”

Poonam further adds, “Once, after performing an emotional scene, Veeru came up to me with tears in his eyes. He told me that the scene had touched his heart… What more could I want? I only want people to  watch the film and then judge me.”

her own admission, Poonam loves Hyderabad, she says. “I got to shop a lot near Charminar and I also got to eat Hyderabadi biryani.

“Unlike Mumbaikars who have busy schedules and have no time for others, Hyderabadis bring in a lot of happiness with the kind of love they have. People here are very humble and they have no egos at all,” Poonam says.

Poonam adds, “We also shot in Visakhapatnam, Kanchanbhuri, Bangkok and Thailand apart from Hyderabad. Film kab shuru hui aur kab khatam hui pata bhi nahi chala.”