'More than the shooting dabbas which we take with us, it's about what's going in their school dabbas.'
Jyotika, who has done a slew of well-received Tamil and Hindi films, is thrilled about her foray into the OTT format with Dabba Cartel.
"Everything about Dabba Cartel was special. Firstly, the banner, Excel Entertainment, they are known for creating some of the best Web series," she tells Subhash K Jha.
"The content is always top priority. Varuna is a character I haven't played before. I think a common woman will resonate with it."
"There was one more major incentive: The stalwart actress Shabana Azmi. I don't think anyone would think twice before wanting to share a frame with her. Not only is she a brilliant actor but she is also such a magnanimous personality. You feel so empowered just standing next to her.
"Her thought process and the way she works even today, she makes every effort to give her 100 percent to the character.
"I saw a language therapist with her at the shoot and was seeing the nuances, how dedicated she is even now. Even if you have a teleprompter, she doesn't refer to it. She prefers to mug her lines and say it with emotion," Jyotika says.
Jyotika has words of praise for another co-actor in Dabba Cartel: "I have always loved Nimisha Sajayan's work; The Great Indian Kitchen is one of my favourite works of hers. So sharing screen space with her, with my South buddy actor in a Hindi Web series, was extremely special. I made friends with Anjali Anand and Shalini Pandey at the shoot and I think all of us had a blast.
"Anjali and Shalini are such talented actors. I think just standing with all of them makes us a better actor. Growth is about working on good subjects, good characters and with good actors."
Married to superstar Suriya, what is it like having two superstars under the same roof?
"We leave the superstardom outside the door when we enter home, and we are just parents of our kids," she answers.
"Prominence is definitely given to our children. More than the shooting dabbas which we take with us, it's about what's going in their school dabbas. One's dabba leaves at 6 am with him to school. The other one's dabba goes at lunchtime. So the discussions are more about what they are eating and how we are packing their food and sending it.
"So we are parents at home, superstardom stays outside."
Which are Jyotika's favourite films?
"I have experimented with a lot of roles but I feel Mozhi is one of my favourite films. I play a deaf and mute girl. It's a milestone film for me.
"There are a couple of films in my second innings, like 36 Vayadhinile/ There's also Raatchasi where I play the principal of a government school.
"Ponmagal Vandhal was against child rape, and I played a lawyer.
"In Hindi films, I like my role of a mom in Shaitaan. I found her to be a very powerful mother. I also love my role in Srikanth where she is the wind beneath Srikanth's wings."
Jyotika compares the experience of working on OTT with feature films.
"OTT definitely has longer hours of work but it's very interesting. We shoot about five-eight scenes in a day. It's quite similar to the South style of working.
"When I do women-centric films, which are under certain budget lines, we work in the same format. The pace is great and it's always nice to finish a film or a series quickly because you're still in the essence of the character. I feel the OTT format and the films in South work on a similar platform."
About her comparatively meagre output in Hindi, Jyotika says, "I started my career with the Hindi film Doli Saja Ke Rakhna, directed by Priyadarshan. Akshaye Khanna co-starred in it. But yes, the film didn't do too well at the box office, so I didn't see a lot of work coming up in Hindi. In fact, no work at all.
"Meanwhile, I had signed up for a South film, which happened to be my first Tamil film with my husband Suriya. That didn't fare too well either but somewhere, people recognised my work and I started getting a lot of films in South.
"After 27 years, suddenly, there is a wave of a fusion of Hindi and South films, so work is being divided amongst actors equally. I think it's a great time for all actors coming in together."
"My journey is nothing but growth. Whenever I have thought I need growth as an actor, I have switched languages. I have always chosen my films according to characters which are different from me. Especially in the last decade, which has been extremely different for me as a personality and which resonate with the people.
"I was extremely happy in the South. I have done some of my best roles there. I'm not sure if I would get those roles if I had worked in Hindi.
"I got married and stopped working at 28. Then, I got back to films when I was 35. I did a lot of meaningful roles from the age of 35 to 45.
"And here I am in Hindi now, where I am again receiving a warm welcome, and getting some fabulous roles to play. So no complaints. I am very happy with the way my career has shaped up."
Jyotika will be seen next in Ashwini Iyer's next, co-starring Sonakshi Sinha.
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