They say the apple doesn’t fall too far from the tree and it is true as far as Aparna Shibu is concerned. The daughter of Malayalam director Shibu Balan, Aparna grew up watching her father assisting Sathyan Anthikad in various films before he turned independent through the Sreenivasan-Sangeetha-starrer Nagaravaridhi Naduvil Njaan. In fact, she said that it was to Sathyan Anthikad she first revealed her acting dreams. The ace director encouraged Aparna to follow her dreams and that gave her the confidence to forge ahead. Aparna says, “My father is a director and I have hence grown up seeing him work behind the camera.”
“Though everything looks very easy on screen, there is a lot of hard work involved behind the scenes and I was privy to that. I wanted to know more about the art of film- making but my father wanted me to concentrate on my studies and get a professional degree.” Thrissur based Aparna went on to do her B Tech in computer Engineering and later decided to do a course in airport management and find work in Kolkata but she had a small break in between. A happy chain of events was set in motion during the break, about which she explains, “My father was doing his film and was looking for assistant directors so he enquired if I would be able to assist? I did not have anything to do at that moment and so ended up assisting him. I was in charge of costume continuity and though it is only a small part of a huge canvas, I understood how important and integral each phase is to the overall perfection of a film! I also knew that I had to assist in a lot more films to glean experience about film making.” Meanwhile she worked in a bank but found the work pace too hectic so she decided to quit her job. Though Aparna has done various jobs, she emphasizes,” I like doing a lot of things but my ultimate aim is films."
Currently the pretty girl is donning the avatar of a VJ for a leading channel about which she says, “I got a call from the channel and did an audition after which I was selected. It was out of curiosity that I started VJing but I have come to love my job now.” Meanwhile her film dreams are in place and she adds, “I want to act and I received an offer but the project did not take off. I want to start my innings through a good banner. My father prefers not to launch me and he too advised me to start off with a good banner.” So the wait is on.
