Nazriya Nazim, the Malayalam-Tamil actress, is making a Telugu debut with 'Ante Sundaraniki'. The June 10th release has her in the role of a lover girl named Leela Thomas.
In this interview, she talks about her role in the movie, working with Nani and director Vivek Athreya, and more. She also talks about her husband and Mollywood actor Fahadh Faasil of 'Pushpa' fame.
'Ante Sundaraniki' is my Telugu debut. People believe that I keep listening to scripts from Telugu filmmakers every day. I rarely get to give an audience to scripts from this industry. I don't have regrets about forgoing projects in Telugu in the past. After an actress gets married, filmmakers assume that she won't act in movies ever again.
I lapped up 'AS' because I really loved its fun elements, depth, and emotional quotient. Leela Thomas (character's name in 'AS') has lots of layers, she is very different from Nazriya.
The breaks in my career are not planned at all. They have happened naturally. I am not excited by what I have already done before. That's why my choices are restricted. I seem to be choosy because of this reason. The script matters to me more than the star. Most of my Malayalam and Tamil hits have been made by first-time directors.
I just look like I am someone who can dance. I am challenged by dancing. On set, I have a lot of difficulties pulling off difficult moves. Dance doesn't come to me naturally. Nani was supportive. He and director Vivek on set would say my dance is superb even if my moves are bad (laughs).
I am ready to work with director Vivek again and again. His narration is honest. There is no comedy scene or dialogue that is out of place in 'AS'. He has so many ideas going on in his mind. I committed 'AS' without watching his previous movies.
'AS' has an inter-faith love affair element at its core. Religion and caste shouldn't matter in a marital relationship. That's what I believe in. Things are slowly changing. There is no guarantee that you will be happy if you marry a person from your own caste/religion. My kids' generation will hopefully think on these lines.
Half of an actor's performance is about her dubbing. I always prefer to dub myself.
I have never consciously felt that I have been around for this long. I never aimed to do movies back to back, nor to be a star. Everything that came to be has felt like a bonus. Staying away from the limelight during the breaks was not difficult. Nobody asked me to take a break from acting. I have been in the limelight since childhood. If I do my job properly, directors are going to come back to me. My taking career breaks has never stopped them from roping me in.
After our wedding, we have had a really good time. I am Fahadh's lucky charm (laughs). We talk about films at home, we watch films together. Because both of us are actors, we tend to discuss movies regularly. We ask for each other's opinion but we take our own decisions at the end of the day. It is a coincidence that Mythri Movie Makers has worked with us both simultaneously (read 'Pushpa' and 'AS'). We share perspectives to broaden our understanding. The ultimate decision about my career lies with me and his career lies with him.
I have done two films with him already. If something exciting comes, we are ready to team up again. It can't be a typical story about a love or marital relationship. It has to be an unpredictable film. I am ready to play a villain in his film (laughs).
OTT is letting the audience give films a chance. Eventually, OTT is going to help the theatrical business of films as well. For example, a lot non-Malayalam audience have become familiar with Fahadh because of OTT. The audience in Kerala are watching movies in the original language with English subtitles. If a 'Pushpa' is made, they want to watch it in Telugu.
I genuinely want to do a Telugu film immediately. It depends on whether a good script comes my way. When it comes to creativity and craft, all industries are the same.
Wherever I go, more than me getting praised, my husband gets praised in my presence (laughs). I think they should pay me half the remuneration he gets paid. I have watched 'Vikram' and I really liked my husband in it.
I am listening to a lot of scripts but I haven't committed to any movie in any of the languages. Some of the scripts are really nice. In Telugu, I want to work with everyone from Mahesh Babu, Ram Charan, NTR, to Satyadev. They are amazing actors.
