Anjali Nair who just wound up her shooting for the tamil movie Ascharya Kuri, is on her way to Kodaikanal for her next tollywood project, talks with the same passion and vigour that she displayed in Seniors five years ago. Text messages and phone calls are pouring from all around, she says, following her ‘amma’ role of the boy who played Mohanlal’s childhood in Pullimurugan.
But then, here is one actress who believes that the best is yet to come.Having received the Kerala State Film Award for the best character actress last year for the role in Ben, she looks at herself as a beginner at the beginning of a long journey.
She says, “An artist is in a good phase when she is learning her craft and exploring ways to develop the art within oneself.” After portraying Asha, a mother whose school-going son, Ben, is weighed down by her ambitions for him, she has tried other roles such as Dulqer Salman’s mother in Kamatti Padam, Mohanlal’s sister in Oppam and in Popcorn as Soubin Shahir’s wife. She says “When there are many well established actresses, one feels the weight of responsibility while being in the industry.”
Clearly, she is not aspiring for the glam doll slot. “The only thing that an artist can do to improve oneself is to get into the skin of the character. I usually don’t go for makeup; I try to bring out the role in the most natural way. Sometimes, one puts on a bit more weight for a ‘mother’ role like the one in Kammati Padam or lose weight for a younger role.”
Anjali, for one, is too choosy, “I am ready to do any character, be it of a 20-year-old or that of a 60-year-old. If any such character comes my way I will very well accept it and give it my all,” she says. She has done 63 films so far and she insists that neither marriage nor motherhood ever became an obstacle. She has quite a few projects in the bag including Madhavikutty as Anoop Menon’s wife, a teacher in Kollumuttai, a mother superior in Marupadi and of course, Acharya Kuri.
