She has picked it from where she left it 23 years ago. Ranjini is back to her start-camera-action routine and surprisingly she will be once again sharing the screen space with her lucky co-star - Mohanlal. “I’m pretty excited, I didn’t plan this,” says the actress who plays a key role in Srinath Rajendran’s Koothara also starring Asif Ali, Vineeth Sreenivasan and Sunny Wayne.
The actress says she couldn’t resist when the offer came by as it had everything including a solid script and the presence of her favourite hero.
“I had a few offers earlier, but most were meaningless. People still love Kalyanikutti in Chitram so I couldn’t take any risk by doing unworthy cameos. I didn’t want to sabotage the sweet memories of my earlier films. Another reason for my comeback is my father. He is the one who encouraged me to re-enter the industry when I kept on rejecting all the offers that came my way,” she says.
The actress is tightlipped about her character in Koothara and says she is not in a position to divulge any info about the film.
“Just a day’s shoot is over and my portions in the next schedule will be filmed in October.”
Ranjini says she was cool and composed while facing the camera after a long hiatus. “After all I am a lawyer with years of courtroom experience,” she says with a hearty laugh.
“Fortunately my shot was okayed in the first take, but this time I realised how nerve-wrecking this whole exercise can be. Acting is something that demands absolute involvement and I was shocked to think how I managed to pull it off ages ago. I was not nervous, but felt like being part of an incredible adventure,” she adds.
Mohanlal-Ranjini was considered a golden pair as all their films were huge hits and the actress says she is more than delighted to start her second innings with the actor.
“He is an actor with absolutely no starry airs and a long career in showbiz could do nothing to his down-to-earth attitude.” She fondly remembers the first time she me Mohanlal on the sets of Mukundetta Sumitra Vilikkunnu. “At the studio he was sitting on the floor and as an actress coming from the Tamil industry I was shocked to see a superstar sitting on the floor. He is very accommodative and easily puts the people around him at ease. When all others laughed at my Malayalam he didn’t. He is a very spontaneous actor and it’s very comfortable for any actor to work with him.”
Ranjini says she never regretted her decision to quit films at the peak of her career. “I entered the industry during my early teens and had to leave behind my studies for that. Moreover I was missing my family settled in Singapore and was homesick most of the times. So I decided to call it a day and return to academics,” says Ranjini who completed her degree in London and is now busy with her educational consultancy ‘Information Centre for Campus Abroad’ which has branches all across Kerala.
Ranjini says she is totally aware of changes storming cinema and is all set to adapt and fit in.
“Films are no more a hero-heroine oriented affair like earlier times. Now majority of the theatre-goers are youngsters. So we are expected to cater to that crowd and the industry is churning out some brilliant stuff. The next big thing after Hollywood is Indian cinema. We have done something remarkable in this field and it feels really great being part of it,” she winds up.