THE GIRL WITH THE MILION-WATT SMILE

THE CONTROVERSY SURROUNDING THE NADIRSHAH DIRECTORIAL EESHO OVER ITS TITLE HAS BEEN RAGING IN KERALA THE PAST FEW WEEKS, BUT ITS LEAD ACTRESS, NAMITHA PRAMOD, IS NOT BOTHERED AT ALL. BUT THEN, SHE HAS NEVER BEEN ONE TO GET STRESSED OVER CONTROVERSIES, AND KEEPS AWAY FROM THEM CONSCIOUSLY, SHE SAYS. THE PAN SOUTH ACTRESS KNOWN FOR MULTIPLE HITS IN MALAYALAM AS WELL AS TAMIL AND TELUGU FILMS LIKE NIMIR AND CHUTTALABBAI, COMPLETES 10 YEARS IN THE INDUSTRY THOUGH SHE IS ALL OF 25. NAMITHA SPEAKS ABOUT HER LOVE FOR CINEMA, DANCE, HER FOUR-LEGGED FURRY ‘SIBLING' POPO, SOCIOLOGY (YES!) AND MORE IN AN EXCLUSIVE CANDID INTERVIEW FOR PROVOKE LIFESTYLE MAGAZINE

- Asha Prakash

Everyone including movie stars have been picking up new hobbies or finding time for old ones during the lockdown. What about you?

People talk about how they spent their lockdown in intellectual pursuits like reading. My main achievement has been that I learned to make biryanis! (laughs) I can make all kinds of biryanis really well now, prawn, chicken and more. But I'm not a foodie, it's just that I love cooking biryani, only when I am in the right mood though.

Jokes apart, I had film shoots whenever lockdown restrictions lifted, but most importantly, I was able to complete my course, BSW in Social Welfare Administration recently. The course involves legal rights, child welfare and more.

Does that mean you will be working in the field of social work at some point?

I don't know about that, but I love studying. And I love sociology. I feel bored with everyone else. For my Plus Two, my main was sociology and journalism. I joined BA in Sociology at St Teresa's College, Kochi, afterwards but had to drop out due to attendance issues. However, I always wanted to complete my course and finally enrolled in distance education.

So, you knew exactly what subject you wanted to study, not common for 17-year-olds. Was it the same case with films as well?

Not at all. Films just happened and I was going with the flow. They were just something I was trying to balance with academics. In fact, during the filming of Vikramadityan etc, I was in Class 11 and final exams were coming up. I had shoots as well, and so had to struggle a lot. But at one point two to three years back, I got more clarity, and realised that I need to take films seriously in terms of a career. Anyone of that age would have such confusions and eventually reach a stage of clarity, I guess.