While there’s one Rafael taking over the tennis world, there’s another (although spelt with a ‘ph’) taking over actress Ramya’s world! Unlike most southern stars who guard their relationships and don’t even admit to dating, Ramya’s open about being in love.

The actress, who has been spotted with her Portuguese boyfriend Raphael and also posts about him online, says, “People bombard me with questions about him. Sometimes, I feel I shouldn’t have spoken about him. But I’ve always been honest and straightforward, now, it’s up to me whether to answer them or not,” she says.

Raphael’s become a mini-celebrity now with people taking autographs from him as well! “He’s kind of used to it now. He even watched Johnny Mera Naam and was laughing throughout,” she reveals, adding, “He reads all my articles and is more interested in them than I am. This relationship is sacred, not for public consumption.”

The actress is thrilled with the response to her latest flick Johnny Mera Naam. “I’m pretty happy with the response to my latest film. It had family audiences coming in to watch it right when it released. That’s usually unheard of as the first two days don’t see families in theatres,” she says.

To get a taste of her fans’ reactions, Ramya headed to a local cinema hall herself. “When my song Padmavathi was playing, people were dancing and lying on the floor in the Gandhi class!”After working so hard on a movie, it’s difficult to comprehend what makes the audience tick, she says. “You wait for that one Friday and when the film runs to full houses and you get good reviews, you feel happy.”

But how much do reviews matter? “They do matter — you learn from them. Some people said that I could’ve dubbed better for Kicha Huccha, so I made an extra effort for Sanju Weds Geetha. When I act, I do so with certain nuances which the dubbing artistes will not pay attention to,” says the actress, who has been nominated for two best actress awards for Just Maath Maathalli.

While there has been speculation about her joining politics, Ramya maintains, “I’m not getting into active politics now. It’s a huge responsibility. If you have power, you have to keep up your promises and work for people. But right now I don’t have the time for it.”When she wants to unwind, she meets up with friends (who aren’t from the industry) to chill out. “They are all people that I’ve grown up with,” she says.

As for marriage, Ramya says, “If you talk about marriage just after six months of dating, the guy will run away from you! I’m waiting for him to pop the question. But marriage is definitely not happening this year.” Since he’s surely going to be reading this, we hope Raphael takes the hint and does the needful for his lady love, next year!