The contrasts in the characters she plays are as extreme as Dr Jekyll or Mr Hyde. In the serial Sthreedhanam, she plays a very bold woman with a black belt, who has no second thoughts about bashing up someone twice her size. Quite contrary to this is her character in Badai Bungalow, where she plays a scatterbrained dimwit.
The real life Arya is someone who is very articulate, grounded and intelligent with a mind of her own. She is busy juggling her various roles in serials, being a wife, a mother, and also fulfilling an old dream of acting in films.
The happiness of seeing her dream turn into reality has Arya on cloud nine. Although she has already done a cameo in Oru Second Class Yatra and played a small role in Laila O Laila, it is her third film that has her all excited. Speaking about the film, Arya says, “I play a very nadan traditional girl Mallika in Kunjiramayanam which has Vineeth and Dhyan Sreenivasan acting together. The setting of the film is a pucca village of the 1980s which is cursed and there are three female characters.”
About her working experience, she says, “I am wearing a dhawani for the very first time, and it is a total contrast to my Western clothes wearing persona. The dark makeup used is minimal teamed up with oiled, long hair. I feel like I have entered a time warp to another time period.”
Arya wholeheartedly agrees that, it was her stint in Badai… that gave her opportunities in films. The highly popular show has almost all the celebrities gracing the hot seat and that helps her develop a very natural rapport with them. While the positive takeaway is her absolute comfort with most of the stars and huge popularity, her character in Badai… led to some real life confusions and gaffes.
Arya who uses her real name in the show, as also all the other actors, was confused as being married to her co-actor Ramesh Pisharody; or her father being a real life miser and she being a dimwit. Arya laughs, “I get a lot of advice from ladies who tell me not to be so meek and to not let my husband make fun of me or to take me for granted. I enjoy it, because if people believe that I am dumb then it is a credit to my acting skills.”
Talking about her father, she cannot control her mirth, “I again get barbs about belittling my father and people who know my father personally call me up and accuse me very harshly of using my father’s name to increase the show’s TRP ratings. In real life, my father is someone who is very generous with his money and a gem of a person and he is the person who laughs his heart out the moment I speak about Arya’s father. He is very cool!”
Last but not the least she also clears the air about Ramesh being her real husband, “80 per cent of the Malayalees believe that Ramesh is my husband and we have been approached as a couple by most people. This misconception arose because we have used our real names.”
So much for her reel life, Arya sets the record straight on her real life. Arya is married to Rohit Susheelan, a techie and the couple has a three and a half-year-old daughter Roya.
Her slim figure belies her motherhood status and she adds that she has been blessed with a lithe figure. She mentions, “I am not a scatter brain like most people believe, I speak out wherever it is necessary and I love my freedom, because I have never been dependent on anyone for anything. I love to live my life to the fullest, but then I cherish my family around me and they are very important.” Arya is also a great dancer and has done stage shows.
