When actress Mridhula Vijai entered the realm of soap operas through the serial Kalyanasaugandhikam, she had a feeling that protagonist roles are not meant for her. Her forte had been bold and villainous characters. Her character Arya in Kalyanasaugandhikam was one such. However, her second serial Krishnatulasi broadcast in Mazhavil Manorama made her think otherwise. In Krishnatulasi, Mridhula plays a meek, hapless woman, who finds it difficult to make both ends meet.
“The first two days were a tad difficult for me. It took me sometime to adapt to the character. However, as I became familiar with the thoughts of Krishna, bringing out emotions became easy. Now, I am confident about my performance as a protagonist,” says Mridhula, a Psychology student who hails from Thiruvananthapuram.
In Krishatulasi, she is sporting a deglamourised look. But, Mridhula says she is happy about the getup. “It is a dream of many artistes. I have got it,” she says.
A trained Bharatanatyam dancer, Mridhula had begun her journey as an artiste through dance. “Now, I do other dances too.”
Once, she responded to a newspaper advertisement for a short film; that was her first attempt as an actor. The short film fetched her a role in Tamil movie Jennifer Karuppaiya. Then, she came to Mollywood, where she acted in the movie Celebration. After that she did another Tamil movie. “In between, I hosted a dance reality show — Dance Party — in Kairali TV,” says Mridhula, who moved to mini screen from films.
Why did she do that? “I am very choosy about movies. Hence, I had to go through a low time in my career. It was then I got the offer to act in Kalyanasaugandhikam. Though I had turned down many serial offers before, this one seemed interesting. And, I accepted the offer. Then, Krishnatulasi came. But my priority will always be films. I have a Tamil movie in the pipeline,” says Mridhula, who has got deep roots in cinema. Her grandfather was a film editor.
Cinematographer Anandakuttan, who passed away lately, was her father’s uncle.
“Cinema had caught my fancy since childhood. But to get a ticket to the industry, I have not sought help from my relatives. I did it all by myself and I am happy about that,” says a confident Mridhula. “It was my dream to act in a movie where my achammavan (Anandakuttan) cranks the camera. But, fate didn’t let that happen,” says Mridhula, who is looking for a big leap in Mollywood.
