She has beautiful eyes and a body meant for the movies, complete with glistening skin. She is articulate as well and has her priorities right. Yet at the moment Catherine Tresa is pretty unsure about what to say to the media — both her films are yet to be completed and she has been told not to talk much about them. The Kottayam-born, Dubai–raised girl had completed her studies in Bangalore. She says, “I don’t speak fluent Malayalam, it’s mostly English that we speak at home. I speak decent Hindi though and now I’m taking lessons in Telugu. Right now it has struck me that my face goes better with my voice than that of dubbing artistes’ and that’s the reason I’m taking Telugu seriously. It’s been seven months and it has been a great ride, I’ve had the time of my life. So far I have done commercial films, and in future too I’m looking to play interesting roles.”
Catherine grew up in an academically-oriented household and as in most Malayali families, her broad minded parents encouraged her to pursue extra-curricular activities. So while she studied, she also learnt to play a musical instrument, sing and dance, did ice skating and got comfortable with public speaking. She adds, “That was the kind of atmosphere I was brought up in, and though I always liked films, I never thought I would be a part of cinema. I was always fascinated by it and would stay glued when a film was playing. I would watch movies with my father and my idea of romance came from the film that I watched. It was a very innocent idea of romance, not crafted.” She elaborates further, “I did my Grade 12 in Dubai and moved to Bangalore to do higher education and yes, strange it may sound but I’m not on Facebook.”
Her first film was Shankar IPS with Vijay and Thriller in Malayalam and after that another Kannada film Godfather with Upendra. She is currently doing Chammak Challo being directed by Neelakanta and Paisa by Krishna Vamsi. “In Paisa I play a Muslim, who is sweet, very inhibited and talks a lot with her eyes. This girl is a total contrast to what I play in Chammak Challo . I come in during the second half in Chammak Challo as an urbane, bold and dynamic girl. I really don’t think of whether I have enough screen time over the rest of the actors or not; I think I can make my mark within any given space. I was modelling quite a bit, and did a lot of ramp shows before movies. Success is a consequence and I’m not even thinking of it at present, the outcome is not in my hand at all. All I know is I’m giving it my best shot now.”
