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'I've never done anything cliche and I've never got anything cliche.'
Text: Divya Nair/Rediff.com. Videos: Rajesh Karkera/Rediff.com
It is not every day that you get to meet an artiste whose work has charmed audiences across languages and borders.
An exceptional actor whose ability to surrender to the character and explore its versatility and nuances, Nithya Menen is known to effortlessly breathe life into the characters she has played on screen.
Be it the bubbly, no-strings-attached girlfriend Tara in O Kadhal Kanmani that established her as everyone's forever crush.
Or the vulnerable mother cum chef Abha Agarwal who is grieving her missing child in Breathe: Into The Shadows and is willing to go to any lengths to save her from the kidnapper.
Her earnest portrayal of Shobana, a childhood friend and lover in the film Thiruchitrambalam, a role that won her the National Award for the Best Actress (alongside Mansi Parekh), is a well-deserved feather in her 15-year-old film career spanning five languages, Malayalam, Hindi, Tamil, Kannada, and Telugu.
Like everyone else, I was curious to meet and find out who the real Nithya Menen was.
After a wait of two hours or more at the Sun and Sand Hotel in Mumbai, it was our turn to set up the camera.
"Can I skip the earrings for this one?" Nithya requested one of her younger crew members who carefully adjusted the actor's hair and approved the close-up camera angle we had set up for the interview.
"Oh, you are not using lights? Great!" she said as her expressive eyes instantly lit up with child-like enthusiasm.
Ditching her fancy heels, Nithya wasted no time as she quickly slid into a pair of comfy footwear and sat relaxed sipping a hot cup of water.
No tantrums.
No starry nakhras.
No calls to assistants for touch-ups or to check her make-up.
Dressed in a mustard yellow salwar suit and a printed dupatta wrapped around her neck, Nithya came across as someone who takes pride in her work and is confident and comfortable in her skin.
Nithya, welcome to Bombay.
Congratulations on winning the National Award, a long overdue recognition for you. I'm sure, everyone has asked you this question and you've answered this before: What were your thoughts when your name was announced for the National Award?
I think my first reaction was utter disbelief.
I didn't know that it was being announced. I'm usually pretty unaware of these things, so I had no idea.
It was Dhanush who called me and said, 'Congratulations'.
I was just about to start eating, so I said, 'For what?'
He said, 'What do you mean, for what? You just got the National Award for our film.'
So, yeah, I couldn't process it for a second.
I said, 'Really?'
I couldn't believe it.
What does this recognition mean for you personally and professionally? Were you expecting it earlier or do you think it has come at the right time?
I mean, I was (expecting it).
I've always chosen films from a different place.
So when I started my career, I felt that I should do happy films. I should do lighter films.
I was purposely picking and consciously choosing those kinds of films, films that are light, films that make people happy, and stuff.
So in my mind, you know, I decided that I want to do films that make people happy. That's what I should do with this profession that I've been gifted with.
That's been my journey for the past 10, 15 years.
I've never done anything cliche and I've never got anything cliche.
I was kind of getting used to that. It's fine. I'll do things differently.
So, yeah, it (winning the award) was a surprise.
Do you think Thiruchitrambalam was an unusual choice for a National Award because as an audience, we are used to seeing films with serious subjects and characters being nominated for the title?
What was it like working with Dhanush? You are collaborating with him again in Idli Kadai.
You started as a child artist. Was it a conscious decision to get into films when you grew up? Or would you have rather chosen something else?
It would sound very ungrateful if I said I would rather choose something else, but yeah, if I had to pick something that was closer to my personality, it would surely not be anything close to entertainment.
I would be very, very, happy not being in the spotlight.
I would be better off with(out) the camera.
Do you mean the camera or spotlight makes you feel conscious?
Not conscious. Obviously, I wouldn't be able to perform the way I did if I was conscious.
It's just that (acting) is not very conducive to the kind of personality that I am.
You mentioned that you are very selective about the kind of roles you play. What really drives you about a project?
This is something everyone asks me, 'What's in a script?'
There is no checklist.
It doesn't work like that. Every script is so different.
Every human being is so different. The way they approach you with something is so different.
It's always a different feeling, a different reason why you say yes to something.
I think I go with, a gut feeling more than anything else.
I don't think too much about it.
I don't think later about the consequences -- how big is the film, who else is there in the film, what am I going to be? I don't think too much about it.
Definitely, there has to be a story that I want to tell. It should have some depth.
My character should have some depth, something that excites the artist in me.
If it's something I have never done before, then I get very excited. Oh, that's a new thing I can explore!
