In this exclusive chat with The Daily Guardian, the actor talks about her career, personal life and more.
She is a talented actor who believes there’s more to life than just cinema. Accolades have been pouring in for Nithya Menen for her recent web series Kumari Srimathi (Amazon Prime Video) in which she played the titular role. Nithya Menen is known for her ability to slip into diverse characters with ease and her effortless acting has seen her shine even in cameos. In this exclusive chat with The Daily Guardian, the actor talks about her career, personal life and more. Here are some excerpts from the conversation.
Q. Kumari Srimathi was an empowering web series where we saw entertainment with social messaging. What was it that attracted you to the role of Srimathi?
A. It was the idea they told me in one line – a small town girl from Rajahmundry wants to start a bar. In my mind, I had the visual of a conservatively dressed girl serving drinks at a bar; exposing the village area in Rajahmundry – those were visuals we had not seen before in the way that we did. I thought this was an interesting visual.
Q: When you did this series, did you expect this kind of positive response from the audience?
A. I never really know what can happen. I don’t think about how it will be received, at that moment you are just so involved in making it.
Q. You’re one of the few actors who constantly experiments and never looks at whether there’s a big star in the project. It’s interesting for someone who’s so talented. You’re not driven by fame or money, isn’t it?
A. (Laughs) No, I’m not. It is how I always was. Career is collateral. I’m not very career-driven. It’s not like my career comes first and personal life later. The profession is a by-product of who I am.
Q. You’re working in films, OTT and television simultaneously. How do you pick and choose what you want to do?
A.It is a very organic process – simple and spontaneous process. Life works like this and I don’t see boxes. The question is why everyone sees so many boxes – why should I do this or not do that, concentrate on this language, etc. I don’t see it that way.
Q. In October, your Malayalam film Masterpiece is releasing (Disney+Hostar). You had a lot of releases this year.
A. Kumari Srimathi was shot three years ago but somehow things just got bunched up and started releasing together.
Q. A lot of actors went through a tough time during the pandemic in terms of their profession. How did the pandemic affect you, professionally and personally?
A. I loved it! (Smiles) I really had some time off and so did everyone else. It was just four months. There was no need to freak out so much. That’s the thing – you should have something more to do than just your career or your films. You should have a life that’s far richer; if you’re not working for four months, you should be alright. That is what is more important, I think.
Q. What is it other than films that keep you busy?
A. Life itself keeps me busy. Life happens. If you pay attention, it will happen all around you all the time. I give attention and time to that. If you ask me what that is, it’s difficult to say because it changes from moment to moment. Films are not the only thing I think about, that would be very imbalanced.
Q. Recently, there was some fake news about and you called it out on social media. Do you think the amount of fake news being generated is affecting celebs and even regular people?
A. Of course! Gossip is very, very negative. At the risk of sounding spiritual, it is very negative karma. You can gossip on a social platform or you can sit at home and gossip – it is very bad for the person gossiping. To some extent, I don’t think much about gossiping because if there’s fake news and someone consumes it, they are all in the same boat. You can give me fake news; I’m not going to believe it. I’m going to say ‘I don’t know’ and firstly, I don’t care as it’s not a part of my life. People who care about fake news and talks about it are simply gossiping and love to talk about others negatively.
Talking negatively about somebody will only affect you – it’ll keep you from coming up in life and doing something positive and good in life. While I’m constantly doing my stuff, constantly working on myself and my career, you’re not going to be fine. It’s a very negative thing in society. Speaking from a very service-oriented place, I’d love to make people understand that gossiping is very negative – you have to catch yourself at it and stop doing it.
These (social media) pages make their money through gossip which is simply being created out of nowhere. I remember there was a story about Bheemla Nayak about some issues and this never happened! I had a great time shooting that film and I got along so well with Pawan Kalyan garu and Trivikram. It was a breeze for me. But out of nowhere there were random stories.
Q .Body shaming also happens on social media. Is there any way that celebrities can shut all this down?
A. I think some level of accountability is good. You have to point out – like what I did – the page (source) and say shame on you. Shame on you for doing this to society, to the world and other human beings. Just point out. You can’t get involved with everything but as and when it does and feels right, call it out.
Q. 2023 is coming to an end. What’s the rest of the year looking like?
A. I’m shooting a Hindi project now and after this, I’m going back to the Kiruthiga Udhayanidhi Tamil project with Jayam Ravi. I’m looking forward to shooting in Bangalore because I’ll be at home. That’s what I’m excited about. (Laughs)
Q. Are you ready with your directorial script?
A. No, writing is something I do sporadically. If I have to write, I have to put everything else away. Maybe, if it happens… (Smiles).
