JOIN USAce director Mani Ratnam, who slipped badly with his ambitious venture Kadal, regained considerable ground with his recent offering O Kadhal Kanmani, a refreshing celebration of youth in all its uninhibited glory.
Mani picked two talents from Mollywood, Dulquer Salman, son of superstar Mammootty, and Nitya Menen, an actress who had revealed flashes of brilliance in a few films for the lead roles. While Dulquer delivered with his trademark panache, it was Nitya who caught the eye with a stellar performance.
Mani, who is known never to flounder when it comes to choosing his cast, found in Nitya just the kind of bon vivant who could breeze through the role, and the actress, who once nursed aspirations of becoming a journalist before drifting into films, fit the bill.
The first steps
Nitya first faced the arc lights at the age of 10 when she played Tabu’s kid sister in the Indo-English film The Monkey Who Knew Too Much and thereafter took a long sabbatical to pursue her studies. Bitten by a directorial bug, she headed to Pune to join the FTII’s cinematographer course but fate had other plans for her. A chance encounter with Nandini Reddy led her to take up acting.
Unlike some of the more fortunate stars who struck gold with their debut films, Nitya had at best a sedate opening with the Mohan Lal-starrer Akasha Gopuram directed by filmmaker K P Kumaran. But a supporting role in the Kannada film Josh helped her curry favour with the audiences. However, the real turning point came later in Tollywood where she was cast by Nandini Reddy in Adi Modalandi, a romcom opposite leading man Naani. The film not only turned out to be a superhit, but also fetched Nitya her first award. This film also afforded her a chance to turn playback singer.
Realising that acting was her true calling, Nitya then went on to chance her arm in multilingual films, accepting even minor roles that came her way. The role of a princess in celebrated cinematographer-director’s Malayalam mythological Urumi, was followed by a lead role in the offbeat film, a bilingual in Tamil and Telugu directed by ad filmmaker Jayendra titled 180. Her career soon found her alternating between Tamil and Malayalam cinema with an odd Telugu film also thrown in the mix.But it was Mollywood that offered her some substantial openings and author-backed roles in films including Violin directed by Sibi Malayil, Anwar Rasheed’s Ustad Hotel and films like 100 Days of Love and Karmayogi based on Shakespeare’s Hamlet. Her pairing with the rising star Dulquer Salman has worked well at the box office. Among her Tamil films, Malini 22 Palayamkottai, directed by yesteryear actress Sripriya, a remake of the Aashiq Abu thriller 22 Female Kottayam, offered her a plum role of an avenging angel who turns on her rapists with vengeance.
Tollywood calling
Telugu cinema has always had an eye for talent and has always been a safe haven for stars from other languages as well. Nitya, who had a good beginning with Adi Modalandi, went on to star in Ishk directed by Nitin Reddy. Varied roles in Okkadine, Jabardasth and Gunde Jaari Gallanthayyinde found Nitya in her element. This year, she was also seen in the Shravanand-starrer Malli Malli Idi Rani Roju.
Nitya will be seen next in Vikram Kumar’s 24 and veteran director K S Ravikumar’s bilingual project Kotigobba 2, as well as Mudinjaa Ivana Pudi in Tamil. Although acting in films takes up most of her time, Nitya has an abiding interest in playback singing as well, and even in films where she has not acted, she has sung catchy numbers and has even dubbed for other artistes. An accomplished star with over 35 films to her credit, Nitya has proved her versatility.