Face that launched a mystic magic

Aishwarya Lekshmi is so happy; the happiness echoes in her words. Despite all turbulent situations, the movie Mayaanadhi, in which she plays the female lead, is flowing well in theatres. Moreover, her character Aparna Ravi a.k.a Appu, is hailed for breaking stereotypes and conventions. “The response is huge,” says the actress over the phone. “Since I am active on social media, I get feedback directly from people. Some reviews are heart-touching. When I came into movies or acted in Njandukalude Natil Oridavela and Mayaanadhi, little did I expect such a huge response from the crowd. All I expected was to work with good filmmakers,” adds Aishwarya.

Aishwarya’s Appu is a complicated woman and a struggling actor. She is us. She is strong, at the same time insecure at certain points, especially during the audition sequences. A real woman. And, Aishwarya has beautifully translated Appu’s complexity to the screen. “I did no preparation for the character. I was finalised for the character on May 2 and the shooting began on May 20. There was no planning except for the appearance in the first sequence. She needed to have curly hair in that,” says Aishwarya, who credits the beauty of the character to director Aashiq Abu and writers Shyam Pushkaran and Dileesh Nair. “They had a clear vision about their project. I just had to deliver a performance according to their brief. I never had to put any extra effort as they would brief situations well.”

In her words, Mayaanadhi is an experience to cherish forever. Ask her about experience on the set, she says, “Adipoli. There was no tension on the set. We had so much fun and discussions about movies. The set of Njandukalude… too was friendly because we all were friends,” says Aishwarya. “The set of Mayaanadhi had a positive vibe. The shooting was during the rainy season. There were interruptions; some days we could shoot only one shot. But, we were happy in whatever we did. The makers had made sure that their pressure wouldn’t trickle down onto actors. They treat actors well.”

Still from Mayaanadhi

More than memories, Aishwarya has earned two friends for life — Leona Lishoy and Darshana, her friends in Mayaanadhi — from the set. “I have taken them home,” she chuckles.

The actress became a part of Mayaanadhi after an audition. However, it was not the kind of uncomfortable audition we see in Mayaanadhi. “It was more organic,” she says. “In the movie, we see the tension on the participant’s face. Also, as in the movie, I haven’t met any other participants during the audition. Though later I heard that many have participated in it, none on the set have said anything about them in front of me. The audition was quite comfortable. The second round of audition had Aashiq sir and Shyam sir. I ate breakfast with them and had a freewheeling chat. And, I got a simple sequence to act. It was a good experience,” she recalls.

Aishwarya was in Mumbai when she came across the casting call for Mayaanadhi. “After Njandukalude…. I had gone for an acting course in Mumbai as I felt the need to improve my acting skills. It was my friend Stephy Xavier (costume designer) who told me about the call. She encouraged, in fact, pushed me to come here. I came for the audition in between the course and wasn’t very hopeful about getting in,” she says. But, Mayaanadhi was meant for Aishwarya and her effort hasn’t turned futile.      

Cinema has never been Aishwarya’s priority. It happened to her. She realised her passion for movies after Njandukalude Natil Oridavela.  “I had been getting movie offers during modelling days itself. One of my friends had told me about Njandukalude... and Althaf. This had been on my mind when I took part in the audition of Njandukalude…  I was happy to launch my career as the heroine of Nivin Pauly. After the movie, I realised I was happy in the acting space. I started yearning for good movies to perform better. That got realised with Mayaanadhi,” says the actor.

She was a little upset when negative comments and campaigns against Mayaanadhi surfaced online for all wrong reasons. And, she has given them a fitting reply along with the screenshots of comments. “My Instagram account does not have many followers. Still when I posted a photo with my director, a lot of negative comments appeared, that too from fake accounts. If negative comments appear because the audience don’t like the movie or agree with our thoughts, we can understand that. This was not such a case. Those comments were posted by people who hadn’t watched the movie or weren’t planning to. Though it had not affected me much, I spoke because I felt like doing so. I knew the film was good and would pick up somehow. That is what is happening now,” says the doctor-actor.   

What did cinema teach her? “I think a subconscious learning has happened. I have been putting the effort. I went for the acting course, watched a lot of movies and started reading about films. I think that has created a sub-conscious impact.”