Anju Nair: A class apart from the rest

Anju Nair belongs to that eclectic class of artistes who very well manages both big and small screens with the ease of an acrobat. The everyday face in Ayalathe Sundari, Krishna teacher, does not mind, no matter big or small, to show up in big screen when opportunities beckon. She who played wife to Mukesh in Kattumakkan, Rajasenan in Wound and Dileesh Pothen in Pokkiri Simon. She has completed her fourth outing, in Asif Ali starrer B.Tech., again in the role of a better half, paired opposite

V.K. Prakash this time. On completion, she anticipates the biggest pie in her career, acting in Ramesh Pisharody’s debut directorial, Panchavarnathatha as a jealous neighbour to Jayaram. “Soon after B.Tech, I’d move on to the sets of Panchavarnathatha.

There is something different to do in this film from what I have done before. The film keeps high hopes for me in 2018,” she says.

Once the conversation gathers momentum do we realise, she is more than what is seen on screen. An active theatre person is co-partner to an oil and gas company in the Middle East, with a high-flying professional profile to boot.

“Back in Abu Dhabi, I used to take part in events, TV programmes and do modelling as well. That was when I got an invite to act through an event management team,” she narrates how Kattumakkan came to her in 2016.
Somewhere in between, she had a tryst with theatre donning greasepaint in Bhagnabhavanam, a play by theatre veteran

N. Krishna Pillai. “It was an old play recreated for the present day. I studied a lot to portray the lady lead in it and people accepted it,” she says.

Before Ayalathe Sundari happened, Anju had a role in Madhupal’s tele-serial Kaligandaki. So she has no remorse accepting that acting has its worth irrespective of the medium. “Ayalathe Sundari is a K.K. Rajeev project, becoming a part of it is equivalent to acting in cinema. My focus is entirely on cinema anyways,” she clears.

There’s a way, Anju has mastered over the years to keep cool while flitting across diverse media and different nations. “Our availability matters to grab roles in television. When I am busy acting, my business partner would look after the firm aboard,” she says.