Most actors would balk about playing a mother role which is considered professional harakiri and that which would lead to a slew of typecast roles. But there is one young actor who has thrown all preconceived notions to the wind and revelled in playing a mother. Right from the start of her career, Anjali Aneesh Upasana has been a reel mother to child artistes and even the young Turk Dulquer Salmaan, who is nearer her age. She is also one of the rare actresses who has courted success after her marriage and motherhood. In five years of being in the industry.
The 27-year-old got an unexpected surprise when she was bestowed the State award for the Best Character Artiste in the film Ben, where you guessed right, she played the mother of the title character played by child artiste Gaurav. She gushes, “I never expected this award though director Vipin Atlee and Suraj Venjaramoodu mentioned that I might get an award while shooting, I retorted asking them not to tease me. If the jury thought my acting was worthy of an award then I am happy.”
Talking about her penchant for playing mother roles, Anjali states, “I am a real life mother and right from my school days, I have been very fond of kids and looking after them was my favourite chore. I love feeding, dressing and taking care of children; so whenever I get to play a mother to child artistes, all I can think is that I will have a kid to care for.” Incidentally, she will also be playing Dulquer Salmaan’s mother in three different get ups for the film Kamatti Padam.
Anjali is of the opinion that playing a mother would not affect her prospects for a lead or a character role. She is also doing character roles in films like Kinder Joy, Kamatti Padam, Olapeepi, Pulimurugan, Kali and even playing newbie Pranav Ratheesh’s wife in Theeram . Marriage has never been a stumbling block for her and she stresses, “It is after my marriage that I started getting more offers. Marriage does not spell the end of your career and we have a lot of examples in Mollywood now. An acting offer comes to you based solely on your ability and attitude. As an actor, you should be ready to act in commercial as well as offbeat films.” Has her criteria changed after winning the award? She answers, “An award is recognition and not something that is meant to change my criteria. I am still the same Anjali who is still learning cinema!”
Anjali’s husband director Aneesh Upasana is her best critic and being a real life mother poses no problem because her daughter Aavani accompanies her to all the shooting locations.she has acted in around 40 films out of which a dozen have been mother roles.
