Koel Mullick has a competitor, at last. With four films opposite three heroes, Swastika Mukherjee is steadily inching towards the top slot of Tollywood?s leading actress. Great going considering that she?s only three years old in the industry.

The actress with azure eyes was last seen in Sujit Guha?s Sathihara alongside Jeet, but she now awaits a flood of releases. Up next are Probhat Roy?s Priyatama and Shree Venkatesh?s Kranti, the first slated to hit the halls in mid-August, the second sometime in September.

?I play my age in both films. I had only done mature and serious roles before on the big screen. I am very fun-loving and bubbly in Priyatama. The film had lots of scope for situational comedy and I think people will like me and my mannerisms,? says Swastika. There?s also Shreya Pande as the third angle and a twist in Priyatama.

Kranti, directed by debutant Ringo, finds Swastika playing a college girl in love with the hero (Jeet). And though the buzz about the film mostly has to do with a kiss, Swastika plays down the hype. ?The love between us in this film is very internalised and the liplock scene has so much emotion attached to it that it seems anything but titillating. We didn?t feel shy because both Jeet and I shared a great level of comfort with Ringo and also the technicians involved,? explains the daughter of actor Santu Mukherjee.

But four films with Jeet haven?t stopped Swastika from teaming up with other heroes. The two films on the floors have Jisshu Sengupta and Oriya star Anubhav as her main men. Shankar Roy?s Jiban Sathi, which is also ?a love story? features her opposite Anubhav as a middle-class girl wanting to become a doctor. Rudra, with Jisshu, directed by Manas Basu, has an arty touch within the mainstream format.

Even four years ago, Swastika wasn?t harbouring any dreams of making it as an actress. She faced the camera for the first time in Urmi Chakraborty?s Hemanter Pakhi. The film fetched her Debdasi, the ETV megaserial, and soon Swastika found herself juggling her BA books at Jadavpur University and a career on screen.

?This was followed by Ek Akasher Niche and Pratibimba, where I had every different roles. Both serials brought me fame and recognition. That was when I got the kick to improve my acting and started taking it seriously. Soon after, Ravi Kinagi offered me the lead in a Bengali-Oriya film Mastan, opposite Jeet,? says Swastika, taking a trip down the last couple of years. Mastan was followed by Biresh Chatterjee?s Tobu Bhalobashi opposite Prosenjit and a few not so chunky roles in Criminal, Mantra and Nayak. Though she is getting offers from down south, Swastika is not interested in going through that grind. ?As a performer I don?t have any inhibitions and I also know where to draw the line,? says she, oozing new-found confidence.