“Who will say no to Mala Jogi?” Nimisha Sajayan laughs as she asks the rhetorical question. Nimisha says director Richie Mehta is someone she has always wanted to work with. So, when he approached her to play the lead of Mala in the eight-part crime thriller Poacher, she did not have to think twice to say yes.
Her role as the tough, no-nonsense Mala, a Kerala Forest range officer, in Poacher is winning accolades for the talented actor.
“I am a huge admirer of his work and when he offered me the role of Mala, I accepted. She is close to my heart. She is fearless, sensitive and goes through a rollercoaster of emotions. So, why not Mala?” she counters.
“Richie is such an amazing human being. Right from the time I met him, he told me, ‘Nimisha, I am doing this for the elephants, for wildlife and conservation.”
The series is based on a real-life incident in the 90s when dedicated officers of the Forest Service busted an international ivory smuggling racket that targeted elephants in the Western Ghats. Nimisha admits that she was unaware about the poaching until Richie told her about it.
Nimisha Sajayan | Photo Credit: Special arrangement
“Mala is an amalgamation of three officers in the Indian Forest Service. I talked to one of them for more than an hour to understand the person and how he interacts with his colleagues and his family. That was my only preparation to portray the character,” says Nimisha, speaking on the phone.
“There was one question I asked him that helped me get under the skin of Mala. I asked him ‘Chetta, how do you react when you hear of such cases (of poaching)? Then he asked me ‘Nimisha, how would you react if something close to your heart is taken from you?’ I told him that I would be heartbroken. He told me that is how he feels when he hears about such cases. He told me ‘The jungle is my home’. That one sentence helped me understand him and how emotionally connected he is to the jungle.”
Lessons from the jungle
“Forests brings me peace. It’s not only for me but for everyone.”
“No regrets that we did not chance upon any animals while shooting Poacher. There is this dialogue in the series where we say ‘They (wild animals) are not keen that we see them. Whenever we meet them, it’s disaster for them.”
“There are many takeaways for me. I have become a better human being. I have become more aware of how inter-dependent we are with the wild life and with other species for our existence.
The fact that she is comfortable in Malayalam, Hindi and English helped her flesh out Mala. The actor has had a happening year in 2023 with the actor making her debut in Tamil and Hindi films and topping it with the multilingual Poacher, streaming on Netflix.
“I am so grateful to all the directors for coming to me with these characters. I think I am lucky!” she says.
The actor made a splash with her first film, Dileesh Pothan’s Thondimuthalam Driksakshiyum (2017) in Malayalam. Soon, Nimisha became a sought-after actor in Malayalam cinema who made each of her characters stand out. Thuramukham, Oru Thekkan Thallu Case, Malik, Nayattu and The Great Indian Kitchen are just some of her Malayalam films that had her living her characters on screen. Last seen in Malayalam in Dr. Biju’s Adrishya Jalakangal, Nimisha has been busy making a mark in Tamil cinema.
Nimisha as Shakthi in Chithha. | Photo Credit: Special arrangement
SU Arun Kumar’s Siddarth-starrer Chithha, in which Nimisha made her debut in Tamil, is centred on child abuse. She essayed Shakthi, a sanitation worker with a past, who is in a relationship with Eswaran (Siddarth’s character). It was followed by Karthik Subbaraj’s Jigarthanda Double X.
She credits her directors for helping her breathe life into her roles. “My process of acting exists between action and cut. In the case of Mala, Richie’s script was so detailed and complete, that I did not have to take any extra effort. I enjoyed the process and it was enriching for me as an actor. Being true to my characters and their emotions is my process.”
On her long absence from Malayalam cinema, she says, “That is because I am exploring different characters. When you are shooting in Mumbai and Tamil Nadu, the culture is different. I am trying to understand and explore new characters and stories. The characters I am getting in Tamil cinema and Mumbai are very different from what I have done so far. For instance, Malaiyarasi, my role in Jigarthanda, is a loud-mouthed woman. She is a tribal woman, something I had not done before. I am having fun as an actor.”
After the three-film anthology Lantrani on Zee 5, next up for Nimisha is Dhaba Cartel, a Netflix web series, starring Nimisha along with Shabana Azmi, Jyothika, Shalini Pandey and others. Although, she is tightlipped about her character, she talks about her fan girl moment while acting with Shabana Azmi.
“I got goosebumps. It was like a dream come true working with her. She is incredible!”
Nimisha has much to look forward to in 2024. “There is one Tamil project, one Bengali film and one British Indian project, Footprints on Water.”
