The Story Of How This PR Manager To Jacqueline Fernandez, Vidya Balan Became An Actor Herself

Tamara Dsouza’s latest project is Love, Sitara, an emotional family drama about love, acceptance, and family secrets, streaming on ZEE5. Directed by Vandana Kataria and produced by Ronnie Screwvala, she plays a photographer who is the lead’s (Sobhita Dhulipala) best friend.

Her journey, however, has been an unconventional one, as she started out as a celebrity public relations executive, working with actors like Vidya Balan, Jacqueline Fernandez, and Shruti Haasan. From there, she shifted gears to TIPS Industries, where she tackled marketing and promotions, before landing a role as a Creative Producer at Viiking Media.

In 2018, Tamara decided to dive into acting. A regular face in ad commercials, she has been seen in over 75 advertisements for brands such as Tanishq, IKEA, Maggi, Vodafone, and Titan. Her previous projects have been Attack, where she starred alongside John Abraham and Jacqueline Fernandez; Class of ’83 with Bobby Deol; and web series Little Things and Hello Mini. Along with that, she’s also a professional makeup artist and hairstylist, voice-over artist, and has done backup vocals with names like Pritam, Shaan, Neeti Mohan, and A. R. Rahman.

Speaking with us, she opened up about her journey, the shift from PR to acting, and more:

From PR to Acting

“In 2014, a friend asked me to join him for an audition for a Titan TV commercial as a background actor. I remember how thrilled I was to perform in front of a camera and the absolute joy I felt on set. After being spotted in that ad, several auditions came my way, and I managed to balance a full-time job with acting. At one point, I had to choose, and I knew acting was something that would bring me joy every single day. I’m glad I chose that.”

The Waiting Game

“As an actor, you’re constantly going through highs and lows. When I first started, I realised how much an actor needed to wait: wait in line for an audition, wait for a call to confirm the part, wait on set for your shot, wait for your cheque, wait for the release of your project, wait to get called again for work. It’s a cycle, and if you learn the art of being patient, you’ve won half the battle.”

On Love, Sitara

“Working with Sobhita was one of my most memorable experiences. I had a complete fan-girl moment when I met her for the first time at a workshop before our film. But right from the get-go, she was the girl next door. Since we were shooting during peak lockdown, we were stuck in one hotel for a month, so we did eventually spend a lot of time together. And I loved our conversations. They were warm, grounded, and real.”

“There was a scene in the cow shed where Sanjay had to face the back side of a cow and had to be sprayed with mock cow dung. I remember how hilarious it was to see him get sprayed over and over again because the cow refused to position itself correctly. By the end of it, we needed to break for a bit because none of us could control our laughter. It just proved that animals have a mind of their own on set. In the end, we got the perfect shot.”