We have only seen beautiful heroines but very few beautiful ‘mothers’. Tamil and Malayalam actor Nadiya is playing Prabhas’ mother in Mirchi that is releasing in February. One look at her and you are glad to see a movie mom look so slim and lovely. With two daughters one 16 and one aged 10, Nadiya takes time for herself to be what she is today, eating right and exercising regularly. Mirchi is not her debut movie in Telugu; she had worked in three films before she got married and few others might have had a dubbed release. Happy to be in Hyderabad and brushing up her Telugu once again, the actor says, “I had never been to Hyderabad before. My earlier movies were shot at Visakhapatnam, Rajamundry etc. When I come here on work, I focus on it and rush back home when it is done. A part of me is always at home. My daughters are mature, responsible girls but I keep coordinating things on the phone. My parents live close to us in Mumbai and are of great help. They make my husband’s life easier when I am away from the city.”
Nadiya has done around 35 films and 27 out of them were shot before her marriage. Didn’t she regret giving up a flourishing career? “It was a conscious decision to marry and settle down. I had no intention of coming back to cinema. I was too much in love, that’s why I got married. My husband is a banker and I met him before I got into films. I thought as soon as he got a job, I would also settle down with him, that was the plan. Nadiya says her husband felt that she gave up her career for him and also her talent was not exploited completely, so he wanted her to take it up again. Her daughters have grown up, they can stay without her and she felt that it was the perfect time. She quips, “You need a balanced and a non-egoistic husband to be successful. Egos can ruin a relationship. I insisted on working during the kids’ holidays.”
I was living abroad and when I was here for a holiday six years back, I was offered Kumaran S/O Mahalakshmi that had Jeyam Ravi and Asin playing the lead roles. This movie was remade in Amma, Nanna, O Tamil Ammayi with Jayasudha playing my part. After that I continued accepting movies but I am very choosy about my roles. For Kumaran S/O Mahalakshmi, I brought a new age mom to the screen, not the sacrificing but a confident, positive character that was played with softness. There is no vengeance and despite separating and having differences, she tells the son in the film to return to the father.”
Bazaar Rowdy, Vintha Dongalu and O Thandri O Koduku were her three movies in Telugu. She calls Prabhas a lovely person with whom she shared many a conversation ranging from life in general to spirituality. She says, “Acting is a passion but not a priority. With this movie, people will know that I’m back. I have evolved as an actor. I find acting more difficult now than what I did earlier. The benefit of being older is that you are emotionally strong. You have kids, you have a better understanding of life after having different experiences. The characters are the same but the situations are different.”
