In 2016, we saw Miya in a bold and beautiful role in the movie Paavada. Then, there she was as Anna in Hello Namasthe. After that, there was a gap. Now, she is back to Mollywood with yet another strong portrayal. Her character Maria in the latest flick Bobby gets married to a guy much younger than her. “I was not sitting idle. I was working in Tamil and Telugu,” says Miya, whose Tamil movie Yaman got released in February. Her Telugu movie Ungarala Rambabu is all set to hit the theatres.
“In the Telugu movie, I play a Malayali girl, who lives on the Kerala-Karnataka border. At her hometown, she is a homely character whereas, in Hyderabad, where she works, she is a modern woman. So, there are two getups,” says Miya, who is praised for her performance in Bobby.
The movie shows a different shade of the actor. “The movie is about Bobby, a 21-year-old guy, falling in love with Maria, a 27-year-old woman, and marrying her. Maria is going through some personal struggles. In between comes Bobby, who is immature. What happens to them — the funny moments and twists and turns — forms the crux of the movie,” says Miya, who was not hesitant to take up this role.
Miya
“I found it interesting when I read the script. The idea of an older woman getting married to a younger guy has come in bits in certain other movies. But, Bobby is entirely based on that concept. It is a simple movie that revolves around these two people. My character has got a good space in that,” she adds.
Miya says she didn’t do any preparations for the character. In fact, she never does that. She is a director’s actor. “I will have an idea about the character after reading the script. I will keep that in mind and act according to the director’s instructions. I don’t prepare for a character because if I do that, then it would be difficult to change that later,” she says.
The shooting of Bobby was mostly in Kochi. In the movie, she shares the screen space with Niranj, son of actor-producer Maniyanpilla Raju. In real life, Niranj is one year younger.
“Niranj is talkative like me. So we could easily become friends on the sets. He had no inhibitions of a newcomer since he comes from a family that has a good film background. It was very comfortable to work with him,” she says.
Miya and Niranj in Bobby.
Miya has been a part of some experimental movies. Quiz her about her penchant for experimental movies and she says, “It can be the character or the film genre. Among such movies, one that remains close to my heart is Hi I’m Tony. Although it didn’t fare well at the box office, it was enriching for me as an actor. I first experienced the sync sound system while working for this movie and I did some stunts too. The movie was shot in the same order you watch it in theatres. I really enjoyed the work,” says Miya.
“My second Tamil movie Indru Netru Naalai was also an innovative one. It was based on the time machine subject, the first-of-its-kind in Tamil cinema. We were worried whether the audience would like it. Luckily, it turned out well. That is the risky part of experiments. It is all about luck. You cannot predict the end result,” she adds.
In her previous interviews, Miya had said that she was not very active on social media. What does she think about her rare feat of 10.3 million likes on Facebook? “I didn’t realise its significance until it made headlines,” she chuckles. “It was my sister who started my Facebook account. I was not much into it. Then, I began to check feeds and gradually started liking it. I think the steep increase in the number of followers occurred once I moved to other industries,” she says with a smile.
After Bobby, Miya will be seen in Biju Menon-starrer Sherlock Toms and Mammootty-starrer Parole. Does she have a dream role? “I have always wished to do a sports movie. I like sports. I was really excited to watch movies like Chak De! India, Mary Kom, Dangal and Sultan,” she signs off.
