It’s in the blood

A hardcore fan of Mohanlal, debutant actress Niranjana Anoop considers herself lucky to have got the chance to begin her career with the legendary actor, through the movie Loham directed by her uncle Ranjith.

“I had told uncle about my interest in acting and hence he offered me a role in Loham. I am a beginner in acting and I just followed instructions given by my uncle. Most of my combination scenes were with Lalettan. It was quite fun working with him. He was very cooperative and helpful during the shoot,” says Niranjana who does the role of a tennis player in the movie.

“I am basically a dancer. Sport is not my cup of tea. To do this role, I went through tennis training for one month. That helped me do justice to the role. But, if you ask me whether I would continue learning tennis, I would say no. I am not sporty,” laughs the Plus One student, who wants to be a dancer and an actor.

She is not alien to these arts. Her mother Narayani is a dance teacher and Niranjana hails from a family that is closely knit to the film industry. Besides Ranjith, actor Revathy is her relative and Niranjana says, “When you grow up watching them shining in the world of glitz and glamour, it is quite natural that you would want the same. I yearned to be a director first, seeing Ranjith uncle. Later, I moved to acting.”

Niranjana likes Revathy’s performance in Kilukkam and Devasuram. “These two are my all-time favourites.” Niranjana has got a personal attachment to the movie Devasuram. “The movie Devasuram was really a gift by Ranjith uncle to our family. It is based on the life of my maternal grandparents, who lived in Kozhikode. Ranjith uncle created the character Mangalasseri Neelakandan and Bhanumathi, inspired by them. So the movie is very close to us,” says Niranjana, who is also a trained Kuchipudi dancer.

“Though my mother is a dance teacher, she doesn’t teach me,” she chuckles. “I started off my learning with Bharatanatyam under the guidance of Aswathy M. Sreekanth and later shifted to Kuchipudi. I learn Kuchipudi under Geetha Padmakumar. I do performances, especially concerts,” says Niranjana who performed with danseuse Shobhana recently. “It was during her performance held in JT Pac. I did a very small portion in that as a substitute. But, I consider that as a blessing. It was a nice experience. I admire her dedication towards work and detailing of each work.”

What are her future plans? “I wish to take up studies, dance and acting together. If I get a good chance in movies, I will definitely take that.”