Meena’s ‘mature’ welcome back

Hyderabad: Meena, the goddess of southern silver screens for almost two decades, is all set for a comeback in Telugu movies. And Drushyam, she says, is the perfect vehicle.

“The character I play has many shades. Sweet, innocent, lots of responsibilities and bonding with family — everything is there,” says Meena.

Well, it definitely helps that she had also worked in the original Drishyam in Malayalam. “It was a phenomenal success. And now, when I’m playing the same character in the Telugu version, the expectations are bigger,” she says.

For this movie, she is getting together with Venkatesh after 16 years. The pair had delivered five blockbusters in the past. So is she expecting any change?

“When I first worked with Venkatesh, I was a kid. I didn’t know much about the industry. I didn’t know much about the language either. I was reserved,” Meena says.

But marriage and a three-year-old daughter have changed her a lot. “Now I’m more matured, relaxed and friendly. But I feel Venkatesh is still reserved,” Meena says.

Still, during their meeting, Venkatesh had appreciated her work in the Malayalam film. “But we spoke more about our families, meditation and spirituality,” says the actress.

The actress is open to working in more films, but it would “depend on the script and the character”. “I have more responsibilities as a mother. I am serious about my daughter Nainika, so I don’t want to take on whatever comes to me. Even for this film, I didn’t work after 6 pm at all,” she says.

In Hyderabad for the movie promo, Meena had brought her daughter along. “It is very difficult to handle responsibilities both at home and at work.  I don’t know how others are managing.”
The actress recently watched the Telugu film Manam – the last film of Telugu film icon Nageswara Rao, who died in January. “I loved it and the last scene left me in tears, since my debut Tollywood

film was with ANR. I had played his grand-daughter,” Meena says. “I felt like calling up Nag and telling him how much I loved this movie.”

So any other regrets? “I never played characters of my age in any film,” Meena laughs. “I wished to play a college student at least in one film.”