“During the auditions for the character of Rosy (for the film Ezra), I was just told about the demeanour of the character. I was asked to play an unassuming, simple-minded girl, and I did what they asked me to do. I didn’t think they’d call me back at all,” said Ann Sheetal, who essayed a pivotal role in the movie.
But she did get a call back and the rest, as they say, is history. And quite literally in this case, since Ann was to portray a character from the pre-Independence era. “Rosy was nothing like me to begin with. And that she was from another era added to my fears,” said Ann, admitting that she was quite apprehensive about it.
“The last thing I wanted was to make a mockery of her sadness. But when the role started to unfurl, it all started to seem real and I connected and even empathized with Rosy. The job I entrusted myself with was to make her come across as a credible character from the past, and convince people that her emotions were in the right place,” Ann detailed.
Were the reports about the shooting set being haunted true? “It really was spooky,” she said. “The old house where the shoot was progressing in Fort Kochi had quite a strange aura about it. I often kept forgetting my lines and there was always something or the other going wrong. A light kept flickering and generators and cameras would shut off on their own. Even when the priest came down to bless the place, the light was seen flickering which scared Priya (Anand) and me a lot!” Ann shared her ghostly experience.
Talking about her co-stars, she said that although she did not have combination scenes with Prithviraj, he had told her that he really liked her character in the film. “And Priya Anand is a very bubbly person who gets along with people easily,” Ann said. “I did have to share screen space with Sudev Nair who turned out to be very supportive and rather sweet.”
Ann Sheetal is trained in the Barry John Acting Studio in Mumbai. “As opposed to conventional methods of acting, the training I received there was on releasing the actor in you,” she stated.