If you have watched Mahesh Babu’s Brahmotsavam, you wouldn’t have missed 12-year-old Avantika Vandanapu, who played the superstar’s cousin in the movie. Asked how it was working with a big star like Mahesh Babu, she says. “I was quite nervous initially. After all, it’s not every day that one gets to debut alongside superstars like Mahesh Babu, Kajal Aggarwal and Samantha. “I assumed, like many others, that they would be the serious types. But they were actually quite friendly and made me feel very comfortable,” she says, adding that the entire shooting experience was wonderful.

She is now enjoying all the adulation and recognition coming her way. The Telugu-speaking US resident never thought of taking up acting. She actually began her career in the entertainment industry in the popular dance show Dance India Dance — because she loves to dance. “I competed with participants from all over the world. I was the first runner-up,” she says proudly. People took notice of her talent during the show and suggested she take up acting. Sensing her potential, her mother, Anupama Vandanapu, enrolled her into a film school. “I enjoyed the process a lot. That’s when I decided I wanted to become an actress,” adds Avantika. They then sent her show reel to the casting agents of Brahmotsavam and as they say, the rest is history.

But, how does she manage her studies? “My mom enrolled me into home school, a place for child actors like me, back home. It’s an online public school. I came here prepared knowing it was going to be a busy year,” she says. And Avantika was right. She has already signed three films. She will be seen in Gopichand’s Oxygen, Naga Chaitanya’s Premam and an upcoming Malayalam movie starring Mohan Lal and Gauthami.