Meet the new kid on the Malayalam block

Malayalam actress Ann Augustine could be the find of 2010. Her maiden venture as an actor, Lal Jose' Elsamma Enna Aankutty, has become a big success. She played the local reporter of a daily in a sleepy village, who had to become bold enough to take care of her family.

Ann has just completed shooting for Ranjith Sankar's Arjunan Saakshi, opposite Prithviraj. She is currently facing the camera as Kunchacko Boban's fiancee in V K Prakash's Three Kings.

Daughter of veteran actor Augustine, Ann chats with Meghna George.

Your character in Arjunan Saakshi is called Anjali Menon. What is she like?

She is a journalist and a modern girl. That doesn't mean she is very bold and brave. She is a normal girl. She gets involved in certain social issues and moves along with it. There is no big romance happening.

How different is this character from the one in your debut film, Elsamma Enna Aankutty?

You can't compare the two characters, as there are no similarities between them.

Elsamma was a local reporter for a daily but she came from a completely different environment. She had tremendous responsibilities and was really bold. My character in Arjunan Saakshi, as I have already mentioned, is that of a normal girl who has just started her career.

How did life change for you after Elsamma Enna Aankutty?

(Laughs) Life has changed a lot, in the sense that now I have to wake up so early! I would definitely love to sleep more. Then there are the usual things like people recognising me on the streets. Things around me have changed quite a lot.

But personally, there is not much change for me. My friends are still the same. Maybe two or three have been added to the list.

Did you imagine Elsamma Enna Aankutty to become such a big success?

Never. Of course, I wanted it to do well. I expected it to be a big hit and prayed a lot. I had put my heart and soul into my character. For the first time in my life, I knew what hard work was. I never thought it would become such a big success and I feel so happy about it.

If you could rewind and do the role all over again, how different it would be?

Like any other actor, I feel that I could have been better in some of the scenes too. I would perhaps do some scenes in a different way. But this happens to everyone. The important thing is that director Lal Jose had confidence on me and luckily, it worked big time for me.

You were planning to pursue a career in Clinical Psychology. Now, how serious are you about the career as an actor?

No, I am not confident about a career as an actor. Actually, I feel this is not a career option. It may be there for two or three years. There are too many talented kids coming and I always feel like I am not very talented. I don't think of this as my career. But let's see how things happen (smiles).