It has been around two years since Cousins, in which she essayed the female lead, reached the theatres. Vedhika, who was later found taking up major projects in Tamil and her mothertongue Kannada, is now coming back to M’town — that too in a title role in Sujith Vaassudev’s James and Alice.
Vedhika points out that it was not a planned gap or break. “After Cousins, I got a call from P. Vasu sir to act in his Shivalinga. He is a legend who created many hits including Chandramukhi and Apthamitra. I had to block around 60 to 90 days for that project, in which I acted along with Shiva Rajkumar sir. It was around the same time that I got the call to work in Chandrettan Evideya. In fact I was ready to act in that project, but had to back out owing to the date clash,” she says.
The actress, who started her career in Malayalam with Dileep starrer Sringaravelan, is now coming back to M’town with Prithviraj starrer James and Alice. “It is for the second time that I get an opportunity to act along with Prithvi, after Vasanthabalan sir’s Kaaviya Thalaivan. In that film, we did not exactly play a couple. But in James and Alice we appear as lovers,” she says.
It is the subject of the film which hooked her into this project. “James and Alice is a wonderful love story more than it is a beautifully conceived family film. It is for the first time I get to listen to such an excellent subject. I am sure that every woman who watches this film can easily relate with my role. Alice could easily be the representative of many women,” she says, adding, “It is a performance oriented role. I still don’t know who suggested my name for this project. But I guess it was my performance as Ganakokilam Vadivambal in Kaaviya Thalaivan that made me eligible to come on screen as Alice, which has become one of the most precious roles in my career.”
It was last September that she got the call from Sujith to do this project. “Initial plan was to begin the shooting from October. But it got delayed till January. The second factor which made me to say yes to this project is of course the crew. I have got fantastic co-actors and technicians in James and Alice.”
Vedhika, who has already completed three films in Malayalam, says that her Malayalam has improved. “When I went to Tamil, it was very tough to catch up with that language. I took more time to understand Tamil. But when it comes to Malayalam, I have no issues in with the language. I always give importance in delivering the dialogues in proper pace and rhythm in order to avoid lip sync issues. Even when I get lengthy dialogues here, I try to manage and deliver it perfectly,” she says.
The actress points out that she always loves to work in Malayalam. “It is the industry which comes up with realistic films and out of the box storylines. Along with that Mollywood has many amazing technicians. I feel most comfortable working in Malayalam,” she says.
When quizzed about her favorite Malayalam actress, she says, “I like the acting of Manju Warrier. Recently I watched How Old Are You? She is such a wonderful actress. Like that, this industry has many fabulous actors as well as technicians. I am looking forward to be part of their projects.”
The actress, who is all set to join the sets of Dileep’s Welcome to Central Jail, says, “It will also be a wonderful love story. As of now I can’t tell much about the story as it is currently under the production stage.” So what about her marriage plans? “To be honest, I am not planning to get married soon. Currently my focus is on my career. I just want to do performance oriented roles like in Kaaviya Thalaivan and James and Alice,” she signs off.
