She was a long-jumper of promise, studied at a leading sports school, shone as a cadet in the National Cadet Corps and used to dream of being an army officer. Destiny, though, had other ideas for actor Anusree, now one of Malayalam cinema’s best actresses.
If she showed plenty of promise in her debut flick, Diamond Necklace, as Kalamandalam Rajasree in 2012, in Chandrettan Evideya , her first release this year, she has given one of the finest performances of her career as an insecure wife, Thrissur accent et.al.
Anusree says she could do well in Chandrettan Evideya because she was given time to prepare for her scenes. “I kept rehearsing the scenes in my mind for at least two days prior to the shoot,” she explains. The actress adds that it was a bit surreal acting with Dileep in the film. “The first film I ever watched in a theatre was CID Moosa , and here I was acting with the hero of that film! On that note, working with Dileep was a great experience, though. He has a terrific sense of humour and makes you laugh all the time,” she says. Anusree is delighted that the film was well-received and that her effort was appreciated by people who matter in Malayalam cinema.
“Lal Jose had sent me a text message to say that he felt proud about me. That meant a lot to me for I consider him as my mentor. I would not have been here if he hadn’t cast me as Kalamandalam Rajasree,” says Anusree. At present she is in Kozhikode for the shoot of Rajamma@yahoo , directed by debutant Reghurama Varma.
Lal Jose was a judge on a reality show for actors on Surya TV. He had promised to cast the winner of the show in his film and that was how Anusree became an integral part of Diamond Necklace .
“I had offers from other directors, but I preferred to wait and make my debut with Lal Jose. I had to wait a year and a half, but I have no regrets. I could not have got a better debut than Diamond Necklace ,” says Anusree.
Even in a film that had three leading ladies, she stood out as the naive wife of a philandering NRI doctor, played by Fahadh Faasil. She’s once again sharing screen space with Fahadh in debutant director Dileesh Pothan’s Maheshinte Prathikaram , which could be her next release.
“While shooting with Fahadh again, I realised how much I have travelled in Malayalam cinema and how much I have grown as an actor,” says Anusree, who also won acclaim for her role in last year’s sleeper hit, Ithihasa . “It was not at all easy to play a man, with all those action sequences and smoking cigarettes. But, my background in sports helped,” she says.
And she used to be quite good at sports too. She studied at G.V. Raja Sports School in Thiruvanananthapuram for two years. She was into athletics and basketball. “In athletics, I trained for long jump and 100m sprint. I was very passionate about sports and did not imagine that I would become an actress,” she says.
The reality show was the turning point for Anusree. “Till then, I hadn’t considered acting as a career. Ever since my school days I had wanted to become an army officer. I used to be very active in NCC and was among the few selected from Kerala for the Republic Day parade in New Delhi. I was confident that I would get selected in the Indian Army,” she muses. But, the girl from Kamukumchery village in Kollam ended up in tinsel town, which has welcomed her with both hands.
