People don't instantly recognise me in person: Anjali Nair

Anjali Nair, who has films like Drishyam 2 and Chithha in her CV, made her film debut back in 1994 as a child artiste, in the Malayalam film Manathe Vellitheru. Since then, she has gone on to establish herself as an artiste who can do justice to any role in both Tamil and Malayalam. The actress talks to us about films, her daughter Aavni being a busy child artiste, upcoming projects, and more.
‘SIDDHARTH WAS VERY HELPFUL IN OUR SCENES IN CHITHHA’
I was offered a part in Chithha because of Drishyam 2, in which I had played the role of Saritha. Working in Chithha was an awesome experience, and even the makeovers in both films are similar. Siddharth was very helpful in our scenes together, and director Arun Kumar was sweet and kind. Only when I saw the film post release did I realise how important and heavy my role was.
On her first visit to Chennai...
My aunt’s daughter married director Bharathirajaa’s son, Manoj, here. I came to Chennai for the first time to attend the marriage and I met many stars like Rajinikanth, Vijay, and Suriya during the wedding ceremony. It was a very nice experience.
‘PEOPLE SAY I LOOK DIFFERENT FROM HOW I LOOK IN MOVIES’
People don’t immediately recognise me when they see me in person. They say that I look very different from how I look in movies. A few days ago, a boy mistook me for his Malayalam teacher. I told him that I’m an actress! Although I don’t consider this as something negative, it hurts to not get recognised sometimes. On the flipside, I get to travel anywhere with ease.
‘I WAS PREGNANT WHILE SHOOTING FOR CHITHHA’
I was pregnant (with her second daughter, Aadvika) while shooting for Chithha. I could do those heavy-duty scenes in the film because of the comfort I felt on the set. The team took good care of me. As my bump grew, we shot a lot of portions with Siddharth and Nimisha covering me from certain angles so that my belly wouldn’t show. I did get many offers after Chithha, but for eight to nine months, I could not accept anything as I had delivered a baby.
‘I’M NOW CONFIDENT ABOUT MY TELUGU’
I’m doing a multi-language film with Arya, directed by Tiyaan director Jiyen Krishnakumar. In the film, I’m playing Murali Gopi’s wife. I’m also working on a Telugu film with director Ashwin Chandrasekhar. It features Santosh Sobhan in a story about two brothers. There, I’m playing the elder brother’s wife. Telugu was a bit tough but the team mentored me well. I had got offers in Telugu earlier, too, but I didn’t have the confidence then. Now, I’m more confident.
On her daughter, child artiste Aavni…
My elder daughter Aavni is interested in acting and has done more than 20 movies in Malayalam and Tamil thus far. Now, she is part of Vikram’s Veera Dheera Sooran: Part 2 and the upcoming Suriya-Karthik Subbaraj film. In Malayalam, she was part of Tovino Thomas’s ARM. Also, my daughter and I acted in Rajinikanth’s Annaatthe. She played Keerthy Suresh’s younger version, and the experience working on that film was great. It has come to the point where now, I get acting tips from her!