Neeraja Rajendran believes that everything in life happens for good. It was this attitude that helped her embrace every little transformation in life. She was a dancer first, then moved to astrology and now, into acting. Her stint with dance began as a kid. “I started learning dance since the age of three. I began with the Kalamandalam style and later adopted the Kalakshetra style, which I felt is more appealing,” Neeraja begins the conversation, sitting at her home in Kochi. Her husband Rajendran joins her. The couple has two children — Darshana and Bhavana, who are passionate about theatre.
But as a kid, dance had never been her forte. Her father wanted her to become a lecturer. Dance became a part and parcel of her life only after marriage. “We moved to Riyadh after marriage. I did a programme there and got a lot of enquiries for class. Thus, I began the Darbha Dance Academy,” recalls Neeraja, whose husband was an employee with the British Council there and provided Neeraja ample help in running the school. “I taught around 700 students in a span of 11 years,” she says.
In 2001, they returned to Kerala closing the dance academy and Neeraja stopped dancing altogether in 2002. She shifted her focus to astrology and started learning it. “I was curious. I wanted to know how astrologers make predictions,” she says. “In 2006, I started practising astrology. It was my guru Hari Menon sir, who encouraged me to start predictions. I was afraid in the beginning. We are prophesising another person’s life, right? Now, I am happy to do this. It has become a part of my life.”
Were people hesitant to open up to a woman astrologer? “Never, I think, it was otherwise,” says Neeraja, who follows a modern approach. “I always tell people that astrology should only guide them. We can change our karma, except birth and death, if we have the will power.”
Acting happened quite late in her life though it was one of her teenage dreams. Her first project was Ponnambili, a television serial. “One day director Hari P. Nair came to our house and asked me if I was interested to act. I agreed and the audition happened the next day. There were many people, but I got through. That boosted my confidence,” says Neeraja, who was showered with film offers later.
Her first film project was Thrissivaperoor Cliptham in which she acts as Asif Ali’s mother. “It was through singer Reshmi Satheesh that I got the offer. Initially, I was cast for a character role.” After that came Rakshadhikari Baiju,which hit the screens first. “I bagged the role in Rakshadhikari through Launchpad Casting, a casting company.”
The busy Neeraja is now a part of a Mamootty-Shyamdhar movie, a Tovino Thomas-Arun Dominic film, Sunday Holiday directed by Jiss Joy and Solo starring Dulquer Salmaan.
