Mamatha mohandas in south scope

Photographs: Ramakanth T MaMta Mohandas aroused in south indian filM buffs a hunger that's not getting satiated anytiMe soon, especially after her songs aakaleshthe annaM pedatha in telugu and kaalai kaalai in taMil have becoMe everyday huMs. egyptian?

yep. she goes back there a long way. sunny vishwanath finds out Moreso it's just a matter of time. But I'm still waiting for a super hit film in the South.

I think there's much more in Tamil that I can do.

Mamta talking straight for so long was turning out to be not so Mamta like. So we threw in a tricky question. Which is more preferable a national award for singing or a national award for acting? She smiles and smiles and smiles some more. "Well, it's a difficult choice, but I'd say acting (if I can't have both.) I hope it'll be a national award for acting and a Grammy! Two things make her uncontrollable: riding a bike and being in love The second one first though. Mamta confessed that she's been more love prone than not all through her growing up years. Although she often came back from school convinced that she was in love, she never really had anybody who could be definitely called her boyfriend. "When it happens it will be great but right now it's not the time. I am not interested in anyone in the industry right now. Once I find him and settle down, I may just do more of singing than acting. But that doesn't mean it will be a few devotional songs every once in a while! (Roaring laughter) Can't imagine Mamta's spirit contained to just that, can you? See her when she's riding a bike, you'll know. "There will be a time after showbiz when I will use the money I am earning to buy some real fancy bikes," and not the usual touring the right places, parties and yep, no devotional songs. Link ups and gossip have brought out her real strength Like any newcomer, she used to get terribly upset at the merest mention of a linkup, but now she's risen to a level where these things don't bother her all that much. We tried to push in (eyebrow raised teasingly) how she's been taking all this talk about she getting along quite well with Devi Sri Prasad. We expected the usual `we're just good friends.' A totally relaxed and unperturbed Mamta shares that she and he "bounce off each other the same level of energy. We have great chemistry and I love his sense of humour."

Her linkup with a much older Malayali co-star a few years ago was not so funny, for her at least. "It was crazy and I just couldn't handle the gossip. But that episode has made me stronger. I don't give a damn anymore."Will the real Mamta please stand up...

She's religious, believes in Astrology (especially after somebody predicted she'll get into films when she was still in the eight standard) and had she not been the sort of passionate dreamer she is, she'd well have been an accountant! "Initially, I wanted to become a pilot and my parents almost planned a career in banking for me," she gasps in mock horror. We are glad too it didn't go that way, although she would have made for an accountant who surely aroused interest in figures.

"Extended vacations are oh so unnecessary and anybody not matching my energy frankly puts me off." So guess she's got more enemies than friends. "Yep I'm a Scorpio, but hey, I don't sting!"