There’s palpable excitement in Amala’s voice as she speaks over the phone from ‘somewhere between Delhi and Manali’. She has just found out that her dog has given birth to 10 puppies and Amala is hoping to rush back to them the moment she returns from her Himalayan adventure.
For now, though, she’s happy exploring the beauty of Mcleodgunj. “I’ve been doing nearly eight films since last year,” says Amala, over a patchy phone connection. “I try to break my work schedules with a trip like this. But then works catches up even here, and I have to do phone interviews,” she laughs, loudly.
Finding respite in the mountains, she says, is something she has taken to ever since she completed a rigorous 10-day trek last year. “Many people started out but only three or four people completed it. I knew it was going to be challenging but I wanted to prove it to myself. If you want to learn the true meaning of feeling independent, you must do such a trek. It was an added bonus that I lost four kilos in the process.”
Best of both worlds
This trip, though, was her break after completing a schedule of Bhaskar Oru Rascal with Arvind Swami. Playing another mother role in Bhaskar ..., a rare fete among actresses in their prime, Amala believes she’s blessed to have balanced glamorous roles with meatier, character-driven ones. “I played a mother in Amma Kanakku when I was just 23. If I had done so when I am 30, maybe things would have been different and I would have got stereotyped. I still get offered the whole variety.”
Amala knows that it’s her de-glamorised roles that have made her a darling with the audiences. Pointing to her role of Shalini in VIP, in which she literally played the girl next door, Amala believes it has brought her closer to the people. She has reprised the same role in its sequel, VIP2. “ From the neighbour, I’ve become the wife in this one. I see it as a beautiful extension of my character, especially because of Soundarya; her attention to my character has let me see the advantages of having a lady director.”
Looking back at her professional career, Amala says she’s glad she was offered roles that have instilled in her a love for acting. “Right from Myna, my films have been such that I’ll be itching to be on the sets the moment I wake up in the morning. I’ve always tried to choose roles that are different from who I am as a person. When I act in these roles, I discover this whole new person from within. And as the film progresses, you create a relationship with her, almost unknowingly.”
A journey within
Personally, though, Amala hasn’t had the same luck. Her divorce with director Vijay was much talked about. Yet Amala refuses to see it as something negative. She believes she’s richer because of the experience. “It was something I believed in with all my heart but it just didn’t work out. My family and friends gave me the courage to move on. It would have very easy to start partying and hit the bottle but I did none of that.”
Instead, Amala took to yoga, which she calls her ‘guide to survival’. “Yoga has given me strength and stability. I’m not lazy like I used to be and I watch what I eat.”
This is also the stage where she discovered a love for reading. “It’s been travelling, yoga and reading that have redefined who I am. I happened to read a book and I see it as my bible now. It’s called The Subtle Art of Not Giving a F#*&... it’s an art form I hope to master someday,” she laughs.
