I regret not being selective about Malayalam films: Ananya

It has been a while since we heard about actress Ananya, who is more popular in the Tamil film industry than in Mollywood. More than her films, it was her personal life that has created a buzz in the media in recent times. The actress says she was taken by surprise as her marriage became a hot topic of discussion on social networking sites. Ananya, who will be seen next in Kalyanism, a family story based on a true incident in Dubai, speaks to Kochi Times about tasting success in Kollywood, her singing stint and her future projects.
We haven’t seen you around for a while, was it a deliberate attempt that you made to take a break away from films? I haven’t taken any break from films.I only took up characters that I liked. The fact is that a few films that I have done haven’t released so far.
Can you talk about your role in Kalyanism? I play a housewife in this film. This is a project which is entirely based in Dubai, by a debut director. Kalyanism is not a commercial film. The shoot of this project is over. Kailash and Mukesh play pivotal roles in it.
You have been crooning for some films. Any plans to take up singing as a career? I sang a poem that was set to music for Sarayu’s short film Pacha. Before Pacha, I have crooned for a Tamil album One Love. I don’t think that I am a great singer, but this song/poem got noticed. Later, for my film 100 Degree Celsius, music composer Gopi Sundar wanted all the heroines to sing a song. Initially, I was not confident to sing for a film, but the song turned out to be a hit. I have learnt a bit of music but I’ve no plans to take up singing as a career.
Your career graph has been fluctuating and it is Tamil films that have won you appreciation... Positive was my first full-fledged M’wood film, but I got noticed in my Tamil film Naadodigal. I was choosy when it came to Tamil films but I wasn’t selective about Malayalam films. That could be a reason why most of my films in Malayalam became flops. I regret not being selective about Malayalam films. However, in Tamil, whatever I did I have no regrets at all. Now I am a bit cautions. Currently, I am looking for performance-oriented roles in both the industries.
During the time of your marriage there was a lot of adverse publicity (Over her brave decision to marry a divorcee). Did it affect you in any way? How did you deal with it? There were many news items about my marriage and all of them have affected me. Whoever you are, you need some privacy and you get disturbed when such news spread. So it was a deliberate attempt to stay away from the media. I have no issues staying away from the limelight.