Mangaluru: It’s a time when women are in the news, albeit, for the wrong reasons. It’s a time when men seek to crush their spirit and to subject them to atrocities of an unspeakable nature. It’s at this vulnerable time, that the story of Sonal Monteiro, a girl from Mangaluru, a Miss Konkan 2015, and the star of the soon to be released Tulu movie, ‘Ekka Sakka’ assumes importance, for it can motivate women to rise and be counted not only in the sleepy coastal town of Mangaluru, otherwise known as Tulunad, but all over the country.
Sonal was chosen by writer-director, K Sooraj Shetty to play the female lead in a Tulu movie Ekka Saka which is slated to hit cinema halls on May 1st, Labour day on the basis of her photograph!. According to Sonal, the director was impressed after seeing her photograph in the contestant list for Miss Mangalore 2013. “I had won Miss Beautiful Smile 2013 then”, she proudly recalls.
Singer, model, actress!
Sonal has always been a winner. She started out participating and winning beauty pageants – Miss Beautiful Smile 2013, Miss Konkan 2015, and soon moved into the film world playing the female role in the ‘Anjea Sarkhen Chedunn’ a Konkani, (her mother tongue) music video. From there it was a hop step and jump into the film world and where else but close to home – in the tulu film industry which is picking up pace and going from strength to strength.
In between she walked the ramp, modeling for a a number of products, designers and shows. She is also no mean singer, which according to her, is a continuing hobby. Her melodious voice only adds to her sensual beauty.
At the age of 15, she picked up the basics of modeling from a modeling company, Fashion ABCD, went on to display her not inconsiderable talent in this profession at Pocket Money Entertainment and gradually entered the film industry to, as she put it, accommodate the wishes of her family, which from her childhood encouraged her to dive into the pool of the glamour industry. “My parents wanted me to take up acting”, Sonal reiterated. This is a rather unique assertion, as most parents insist on the opposite. In her sweet mellifluous voice, Sonal summed up the difference between modeling and cinema in one sentence, “acting demands a lot of hard work compared to modeling, but the former brings a lot of popularity”.
Ekka Saka
Though Sonal remained tight lipped on her role and the plot of her upcoming Tulu movie, Ekka Sakka, which will release on May 1st, she shared a few elements of the movie with this reporter. “The movie focuses on comedy with a mixture of romance and some drama.” The movie falls under the genre of romantic-comedy or RomCom as it is referred to in the film industry.
Sonal’s role in the movie is prominent in romantic and love scenes, the director availing of her sizzling gorgeousness to enhance the movie. When asked if the Tulu industry focuses excessively on comedy to the detriment of the role of the female characters, Sonal said that Tulu movies do focus on comedy, but also lend justified space to the lead female role. “I agreed to play the lead role after I was convinced by the script read out me” She said.
Coming next – a Bollywood debut!
The twenty year old Sonal, an alumni of the City’s premier college, St. Agnes College, admits that academics and the film industry cannot go hand in hand due to time constraints, and one definitely has an effect on the other. However Sonal is determined to pursue both. Currently even as she goes after her acting career with full vigor, she pursues her BA in Psychology through correspondence which provides her with the flexibility to do both successfully.
A few years down the road, she sees herself as a much sought after actress, not only in Tulunad, but in Sandalwood and Bollywood. She has is now all set to try her luck in the super competitive world of Bollywood, having recently signed up for an as yet untitled Bollywood movie, after rejecting a few Kannada movie offers that came knocking on her doors.
As the countdown to the release of ‘Ekka Sakka’ begins, Sonal signs of with “I’ve seen Ekka Sakka, and it stands out from the many Tulu movies released recently. I hope my debut movie win’s accolades from audiences and critics alike”
