Vanity is almost a given when it comes to actors, but Lena chooses to buck the trend. She’d much rather go by what her role demands. “That has more value than looking beautiful 24/7,” says the actor. As long as she can contribute to films, creatively, she is game for any role—“grandmother or even, a grandfather!”
A hero, or the heroine for that matter, is part of the team where everyone plays a role. “I don’t see myself as not having the requisites for a heroine or for that matter a hero. I just love acting.” On February 11, Lena completes 20 years in the industry; she started her acting career with Jayaraj’s Sneham , in 1998. She has played many roles, adapting to the changing nature of ‘supporting’ roles and kept herself relevant in these changed times.
Memory does a rewind of Lena’s roles Pathumma ( Ennu Ninte Moideen ), Shruthi ( Traffic ), ASP Supriya Raghavan ( Spirit ), Roopa, ( Ee Adutha Kalathu ), Lakshmi ( Vikramadithyan ) and then I see her. Dressed in a sleeveless red shirt and black jeans, hair cut very short, arms tattooed with bold designs— she is unlike any of these characters. There is an air of freedom around her, she appears ‘chilled out’. It is not about being or becoming chill, she says, “this is the essence of who I am. I have always been like this, I don’t believe in curtailing anyone’s ‘freedom’, nor having mine curtailed. It is my birthright. Every one has the right to choose how they want to live.”
Although she started with cinema, Lena took a detour to television with Asianet’s daily soap ‘Omanathinkalpakshi’, the popular series had her essay the much-loved Jancy. A handful of serials later she made her way to cinema. Those were days when the content of television serials was artistic, they were more than tearjerkers.
Having established herself in television it would have been easier to stick on. “Everyday you work with people like Srividya ma’am who taught me so much. It was an awesome experience but I never saw that as a goal,” Lena introspects. She took breaks in between in order to complete her education, she is a post-graduate in Psychology.
The immortality of cinema attracts her. “Today if I want footage of say ‘Omanathinkalpakshi’ or ‘Ara Nazhika Neram’, I would not be able to find it. But a film is eternal and that makes a huge difference.”
As the conversation veers to supporting roles and lead roles, she lists actors such as Sukumari, Oduvil Unnikrishnan, Mala Aravindan, Kuthiravattam Pappu, “they shine like bright stars forever. Even if you don’t remember the movie names, the hero or the heroine, you’ll remember their work, their contribution to cinema.” This underlines the fact that it is the performance that matters more than the length of the role.
Her ‘screen’ age, going by her roles, puts her anywhere between 30 and upwards. Wikipedia has decided she is 48, and she can’t seem to set it right. “I’d like to set the record straight, that I am 36 or rather almost 37.” An actor who announces her age is a rarity, but then Lena confesses to being a rebel.
Aadhi , her latest release, is her first with Jeethu Joseph. She had been offered another role, but due to date clashes she wasn’t able to commit. Then came Rosie’s role (as Pranav Mohanlal’s mother). “Jeethu sir very hesitantly offered me the role. He told me that it was not a typical ‘ amma vesham ’ (mother’s role) and as long as it wasn’t typical, which the audience is any way tired of, I was all for it.” She is all praise for Pranav’s work ethic and his adamance when it came to earning his worth.
Lena is currently shooting Vaarikuzhiyile Kolapaathakam , then there are Bilal and Lucifer, and a couple of offers from Tamil and Telugu which are premature to talk about. Bilal is special for another reason, after sporadic appearances in the late 1990s and early noughties, her mainstream comeback was with Amal Neerad’s Big B (2007).
In this changed climate in cinema, she is grateful to all those who nurtured her. “The last 20 years have been awesome...the film industry has been an awesome family.”
