Rose Venkatesan, who rose to popularity through her television show Ippadikku Rose, is all set to bloom as a filmmaker — she will have the honour of being India's first sex-changed transgender to wield the megaphone for a full-fledged feature film. Titled Cricket Scandal, Rose has taken match-fixing as her debut subject.


At the launch of her dream project, Rose opened up to KI in an exclusive. "I have always dreamt of becoming an actor and director.

Somehow, storytelling interests me a lot. And today, it has taken shape," she starts her conversation. Quiz her if making a film is that easy and she replies, "I did a course in direction in Loyola College. Also, I had worked with National Award winner Vetri Maaran for a while. I guess my passion to make good films will take me places.

" Why this controversial topic for her first film? "Initially, I thought I would make a film based on transgender problems — at the same time, making it a mass entertainer.

I have been hearing stories from my friends about how they have been losing heavily because of match-fixing and cricket betting during the IPL seasons.

I thought this would be an ideal subject — exposing the other side of the glitzy affair with a fictional account. But I have also touched upon transgender issues here," she explains.

Apparently, Rose plays the female lead – that of a transsexual bar dancer. The story is about the relationship between her and the cricket captain of one of the IPL teams, and the subsequent controversies that are raked up.

Did she take a leaf out of real life events — a la Dhoni and Lakshmi Rai's alleged affair? She laughs and acknowledges it to be a good idea. "Thanks for giving me tips — I had not thought about that till now," she replies lightheartedly.

So, can we expect a real-life cricket player to play the male protagonist? Or does she have any other actor in mind? Rose smiles, "I am considering actor Vishnu, who I think is apt for the role.

I haven't spoken to him as yet. By my saying this, he may even turn down the offer. Never mind. Vishnu is not only a great cricketer who played brilliantly inthe recent CCL, but also fits the role of the skipper that I have conceived."

Since the Indian Premiere League involves foreign players as well, the movie produced by Senthil Kumar will be primarily in English, and later, will be dubbed in Tamil and Telugu. Rose is planning to rope in aspiring actors and technicians to be part of the cast and crew.

She reveals that she would be approaching big stars in K'town for a star cricket match — as part of the promotional activities for the film.

Rose has strategically planned to complete Cricket Scandal before the beginning of the next IPL edition, and topremiere it at one of the international film festivals in 2013.