Nazriya Nazim signed for plum film projects with big banners and established heroes, including Arya ( Raja Rani ) and Dhanush ( Naiyyaandi ) even before the release of her first film Neram that just hit the screens. “I haven’t come to terms with all the attention,” she says. It all began with her being featured in the Malayalam song ‘Nenjodu Cherthu’ (from the music album Yuvvh ), a YouTube phenomenon with over 22 lakh hits since its official release last April. “I wasn’t very keen to do the music video. But, directors who have approached me with a script have said hey did so only after watching the music video.”
Neram ’s director Alphonse was the one who directed that video. “Alphonse’s execution is spot on,” she says. So, when he was ready with a script to make a feature film, it made sense for her to work with the same team again (she’s paired opposite Nivin Pauly who featured in the video). “I was shooting for another film at the same time. Luckily for me, they hadn’t found anyone, and I got the role.”
Even as the Malayalam version of Neram has garnered favourable reviews (the film released on May 10), Nazriya is looking forward to the reception here. “ Neram is a simple urban love story told in an experimental way,” she says. She is also excited about her ‘big’ project — Naiyyaandi opposite Dhanush in which she plays a dentist living in a small town. “It is a little unsettling to think that I’m working with two National Award winners (Dhanush and Sargunam),” she says.
