Abhinaya is elated. She is back in the city after completing four-days of shoot with actor Dhanush for R. Balki’s Shamitabh which also stars Amitabh Bachchan in a pivotal role. But then this isn’t the real news. The hearing and speech impaired actor who made her debut in Telugu film industry is soon going to shoot for a Hollywood movie under award-winning director Rupam Sarmah.
Is Abhinaya happy? Her smile says it all. She gestures to say, she is excited, thrilled and can’t wait to see actor Amitabh Bachchan. Was she nervous on seeing Dhanush? “For a few minutes. Dhanush doesn’t need an endorsement from me for his talent but I was awestruck seeing at the ease in which he enacts his role,” she explains.
Abhinaya takes the help of her phone and personal computerto type out emotions. She explains, “It was very easy communicating and taking instructions from the director. Everyone in the unit speaks in English, so following what they say is easy. They made me very comfortable and not one person treated me any differently for my disability.”
Ask about her role in Shamitabh and Abhinaya mischievously nods a ‘No’ I can’t tell and says, “This is all I can share for now. Balki asked us not to speak about it till the time is right. So, this is all what I can tell,” she says. Talking to Abhinaya isn’t difficult because she has been trained to read lips. And she is quick at that. “Plus with gadgets, I am more than fine,” she says.
How did Balki come to know Abhinaya? Abhinaya’s father says, “It was a surprise for us. Even before I could dismiss it as a prank, I received an email. We flew to Mumbai and things were finalised there.”
Abhinaya then talks about Possibility in Disability — a documentary featuring her. The director Rupam Sarmah has received many technical and performance credits, written screenplay, numerous songs in various languages, and film scores for over 20 years. “His debut documentary feature film In Search of God received a number of international awards in music and film including Best Documentary Feature Film at Indian Film Festival in the USA. The film’s music score was included in the Oscar nominations list and is acquired by Oscar library.
Does the fact that she is only the second actor (apart from Sudha Chandran) who’ll be playing herself on celluloid, excite her, “Of course. Who doesn’t love surprises?” she smiles.
