Andrea Jeremiah makes a wry face when asked to elaborate on her upcoming projects. “Do we really need to discuss more of my films?” she asks, half-exasperated. “I am tired of talking about them.”
Andrea is at the Bengaluru Poetry Festival. She recently published a book — an anthology of her poems — Synonyms . She is an accomplished singer — films apart, she has a band, The Jeremiah Project. Films are just a part of her body of work. And, acting, according to Andrea, happened by chance rather than choice. Hence, one can understand her reluctance to talk in-depth about her upcoming film Maaligai , in which she plays a cop and a princess. “It is one of those films I did for the audience.”
Andrea has played a mother (in her début film Pachaikili Muthucharam , when she was 22), an archaeologist ( Aayirathil Oruvan ), a secret agent ( Vishwaroopam duology), a ghost ( Aranmanai ), femme fatale (in her latest outing, Vada Chennai ) amongst others. To be successful and escape stereotype is not easy for a present-day Tamil cinema heroine. Andrea, however, has managed to pull it off. It is, hence, compelling to ask her about how she chooses her roles and performs them. And, Andrea, before being bored of talking about her own films, explains these and more.
Excerpts:
You are a singer. You write poems. Do these things help your acting?
I think everything lends itself to each other. My singing and acting as two sides of the same coin. It is the same creative energy that finds different expressions. And, writing is a little different because it’s a lot more personal. I have only written for myself.
You had said in a 2010 interview that you turned an actor by circumstance and not by choice. Twelve years after your first film, do you think your decision has paid off?
No. There are still days when I think, ‘why did I choose this?’. Because it never gets easy. There are always new challenges. But when you are in the right role, when you are part of the right story, it is an intensely satisfying experience. Then, it is worth all the hell you go through.
Karnataka : Bengaluru : 22/07/2019 : Actor Andrea Jeremiah interacting with The Hindu in Bengaluru. Photo : Sudhakara Jain / The Hindu.
What is your most important film so far?
Vada Chennai definitely. Taramani was a difficult film but gratifying because of the way people connected to it. Annayum Rasoolum was a great experience. I chose these films because when I was doing them, it was not about me. I got sucked into the characters I played. And that is a beautiful experience. In which other job do you get to live out parallel lives?
These characters you spoke about are very different from each other…
I try not to repeat myself. Because I get bored easily. But I didn’t do my next film Maaligai for myself; I did it for the audience… the same way I did Aranmanai . Because you can’t always choose roles that make you feel ‘the actor in me wants to do this’. In commercial cinema, once in a while you need to do something that the masses will enjoy. You need to be commercially successful, too, to be able to do the films that you want to do. It’s a pay-off.
What has been your most difficult film so far?
Aayirathil Oruvan . We shot for such a long time in difficult conditions. It was like a boot-camp for everybody involved. But we learnt so much. And, it came very early in my career. So, it was a huge learning curve for me.
Is there a role you are waiting for to come your way?
I used to have a list. I don’t any more. I have realised I have been lucky with the roles that have come my way. I just want to be able to give the cinema-goer an authentic experience. They should not see Andrea on screen. That is the goal.
Karnataka : Bengaluru : 22/07/2019 : Actor Andrea Jeremiah interacting with The Hindu in Bengaluru. Photo : Sudhakara Jain / The Hindu.
Tell us about how you prepared for Chandra in Vada Chennai .
I was terrified. After day two in Vada Chennai , I told my director, ‘If you want to chuck me out, please do.’ I felt like an alien in that world. Though I grew up in Chennai, I could not connect with that world at all. But then, something happened. I surrendered to being Chandra. Then, everything just fell into place. I started walking like her, behaving like her… it was an organic process.
How did you decide that ‘this is how Chandra would walk’?
I did not decide. I just let myself be guided by the director, the ambience. And, I like to find perfumes for my roles. I read in a book that Nicole Kidman’s acting teacher told her to identify a particular fragrance with her character. I could not find a fragrance for Chandra for a long time. Then, I found one that felt right. After shooting, I was randomly googling about the perfume and I found something that shocked me: It was described as ‘sweet poison’. This is the right description for Chandra!
Have you used a particular perfume for your other roles too?
I think I started doing this from Annayum Rasoolum . To some extent, it has worked for me. If nothing else, it is fun: You get to have a nice collection of perfumes. But I do not use the perfume after the role is done. I do use Chandra’s fragrance once in a while though.
Are meatier roles for women being written in Tamil cinema?
Definitely. But there were more meatier roles written for Sridevi and Revathi (in the 80s and 90s). So when I look back, I think it is like a spiral — we go in and out of it. Now, it is not the norm to have such roles. I hope that changes. Cinema should be representative of segments of the population.
