She’s the latest entrant into Kollywood from Kerala. Malavikha Wales makes her Tamil debut after four Malayalam films and one Kannada movie, with Azhagumagan. And judging by her enthusiasm, it’s hard to believe that she had to be persuaded to enter showbiz.
“I was into Bharatanatyam from the age of five and I run a dance school in Kerala called Kaisiki. I didn’t know much about showbiz. But when I won the Ms Kerala 2009 – Ms Beautiful Eyes title, I was offered a role by director Vineet Srinivasan in Malarvadi,” recalls Malavikha. She was only 17 during her debut. “But now, five films later, I am in love with movies!” laughs Malavikha.
So what were her reservations about entering the industry? “I thought it would distract me from my studies. I am also a professional stage classical performer and I didn’t want anything to distract me from that. But luckily, things worked out fine and I am studying as well as doing movies and stage shows,” says Malavikha, who is currently pursuing a double degree from IGNOU — BA in English and BSc in Maths.
“I just love maths and wanted to be a CA,” she declares. But destiny has her playing a village belle in Dhaarun Creations and Avatar Movies, an action love story, opposite newbie Udhay. The film, directed by Azhagan Selva, a former assistant to Yaar Kannan, had its audio launch recently and is readying for a September release.
Malavikha is excited to be taking her baby steps into Kollywood. “I’m a big Surya fan and have seen all his movies!” she confesses. As for going the glamour route, Malavikha stresses,“I want to be trendy, but not cross my limits.” For her, Azhagumagan has come as a boon because she loves doing village roles and enjoys wearing pavadai-dhavanis. As for the difference between working in Tamil and Malayalam industries, she concludes, “In Kollywood, one has to learn to be more expressive whereas back home I have to be more subtle on screen.”