She was not dreaming to make a comeback to the industry where she debuted as an actor five years ago. Even though she was zeroed in to act opposite Dulquer Salmaan in Charlie, Anu Emmanuel did not show the green signal to that offer owing to certain reasons. But when she received a call from M’town for Nivin Pauly-starrrer Action Hero Biju, the Swapna Sanchari girl could not say no to that.
It was around seven months ago Anu received a call from director Abrid Shine to portray the role of Benitta in Action Hero Biju.
“I was at Texas in USA and was pursuing graduation in Psychology. It was through my father (film producer Thankachan Emmanuel) Shine sir called me with the offer. In fact, I was not expecting such a call at all,” says the actress, who debuted as a child artist, playing Jayaram’s daughter in Kamal’s Swapna Sanchari.
In fact, it was Thankachan who suggested Anu’s name to Shine. “Last July, when he went to meet Shine sir to discuss about his new production venture, almost 50 per cent of the project was filmed. The heroine’s portion was yet to be canned as they had not finalised an actress for that role. Though their initial plan was to cast a Telugu artiste, owing to date clash, they were forced to drop it. It was then my dad suggested my name to the director. In fact, he has earlier seen my photos from his friend — director Martin Prakkat, who was planning to cast me in his Charlie. It was then Shine sir called me to do the role of Nivin chettan’s fiancée in Action Hero Biju,” Anu says.
As a fan of Nivin Pauly, she didn’t have to think much before saying yes to Shine’s offer. “I knew it was his next film after the blockbuster Premam. And for Shine sir, he is directing a film after 1983, which is one of my favourites in Malayalam. So teaming up with these two people was like a dream-come-true for me,” she says.
When it comes to her role, Anu says, “Benitta is a post graduate in Fine Arts and loves paints and sketches. If you ask me about her importance in the film, of course, she is Biju’s fiancée. To be frank, when I joined the sets, I expected more dialogues for my role. But more than her dialogues, her expressions and presence have importance in the storyline.”
Anu says it was a bit tough job to face the camera after a brief gap. “When acting in Swapna Sanchari, I was studying in seventh standard. Though I had experience in facing the camera, when I came to act in Action Hero Biju, I felt like a newcomer. But the team gave me full support to fall into the track. I had shooting for around two months,” she says.
Why did she say no to Charlie? “I was interested in that film, but I had to reject it because of my higher secondary exams. Definitely I would have done that role if exams were not happening. More than that, Dulquer is one of my favourite heroes in Malayalam,” she says, adding, “I will definitely do a film with him if I get a chance to act along with him.”
The actress, who prefers to balance her course and her acting career, is now at Hyderabad to essay the female lead in a Telugu film Oxygen, which has Gopichand as the protagonist.
“It is a family thriller directed by A.M. Jyothi Krishna. As of now, I cannot divulge much about my role or the story line,” says Anu, who follows Telugu films along with Tamil and Hindi movies.
