Ten years ago, Maya S Krishnan would have hated any girl who married Suriya, her onscreen love. The Madurai girl would collect cut-outs, posters and pictures of her idol and stick it on her almirah. One day, when her father opened the newspaper, he found a hole, exactly the size of Suriya’s face. The next day, when Maya opened her cupboard as usual, she found that none of her posters were there!
“My father had taken them off. I thought all my effort had gone to waste. Such was the dedication with which I loved Suriya. I was so upset when he got married. In my head, he was my boyfriend. And, I felt: ‘How could he do this to me?’ I never imagined that I would be acting with his wife 10 years later!”
She was roped in for G Bramma’s Magalir Mattum , for the role of a friend to Jyotika’s character. On the sets, when she met the actress, she recounted this story from her childhood. The lady star was amused, and before Maya could do anything, she called out to her husband who was on the sets. “I ran for my life!” Later, she became good friends with him. The star would visit the sets occasionally to offer ice cream and juice for everyone. “He is a real gentleman,” says Maya.
Version 2.0
The young theatre artiste, who works with The Little Theatre company, is a National gymnastics champion and has performed with Dipa Karmakar. Sporting a stylish bob, she had already made her entry in Kollywood through James Vasanthan’s Vaanavil Vaazhkai. And, another exciting chapter in her career is sharing frames with Rajinikanth in 2.0 !
Maya
An engineering graduate, she says that she would not have fared well in her discipline. “I would have made a terrible engineer. I did not have aptitude.” During her college days, came her first film call. James Vasanthan’s assistant director suggested her name for singing in his film after overhearing her sing with her sister, Swagatha Sundar. Impressed by her skills in front of the camera, Vasanthan gave her a role too.
After this, there was a slump, when Maya felt lost. The advice from Mozhi’s director Radha Mohan changed her life. “I had messaged him on Facebook to say how much I enjoyed the film. He asked me to meet him. We spoke for an hour about my future.” As per his advice, she knocked at the doors of Koothu-p-Pattarai, for a mentorship. She also attended a workshop by The Little Theatre during this time.
The road ahead
With two star-studded films in the pipeline, she surely has a lot to look forward to. Bramma’s Magalir Mattum is an experience to be treasured, she feels. “Jyotika would share food and sit with us to chat. She was a true professional and didn’t mind retakes.”
She was also equally amazed by the professionalism of the other stars in the film, such as Urvashi, Saranya Ponvannan and Bhanupriya. Urvashi gave her goosebumps during some scenes. “She would deliver the dialogues with her characteristic humour, adding her own flavour.”
Magalir Mattum will make a strong impact, she feels. “Bramma sir makes sure everything, even a remote, is kept in the right place. It will send a strong message on the value of female friendships and how homemakers should be treated with more respect.”
