The beautiful Abhinaya looks on at her mother, as she talks about her celebrity daughter. There is no visible expression on her face, but the moment she hears, rather sees, her name being uttered, Abhinaya catches it and her face immediately lights up. Earlier, when her father had introduced us to her, she made it clear that she had no trouble understanding what we spoke. And truly, it takes a while to register that this lovely actress and two-time Filmfare Award winner can neither hear nor speak.
The actress who has already excelled working in several South Indian films, is now acting as the lead in a Malayalam movie, ‘The Reporter’. She was in Kochi recently as a contestant of the Miss South India beauty pageant, where she had made it to the finals and was also the viewer’s choice.
Ask Abhinaya which actor she adores the most, and pat comes the reply, “Suriya”. Naturally then, she was elated to play the second lead opposite the actor in ‘7aam Arivu’ where she essayed the role of a queen. Though the film itself got lukewarm reviews, Abhinaya won a lot of appreciation. She appears to be quite a favourite among the people in Kerala, going by the applause she generated at the Miss South India contest.
Abhinaya’s mother Hemalatha who refers to her fondly as ‘Abhi’, says, “When Abhi was 10 days old, we noticed that she didn’t have normal body movements. Her neck was stiff and she would sleep for the whole day. We took her to a doctor who passed on the shocking news that she would be unable to walk for three years.”
But Abhinaya confronted these obstacles with a courage that her parents had instilled in her. They enrolled her at the Oral School for the Deaf at Marredpalli where she started her schooling. She learned sign language there.
At the age of 12, she had a cochlear transplant surgery. Thereafter she went to regular schools like Uma Montessori and St Ann’s Tarnaka, which in many ways, turned her life around. She made friends, gained confidence and was ready for new challenges.
Abhinaya had aspired to be an actress right since childhood. Her father Anand Varma, an ex-IAF man, who has played small roles in Tamil and Telugu films, was equally eager to make his daughter’s dream come true. He would carry her pictures to all shooting locations.
The proud father says, “Ever since she was born, I had wished to make my daughter an artiste, which is why, we named her Abhinaya. Initially nobody took me seriously. When I learnt about the casting of an ad film, I approached them. They said they had already decided whom to cast. That’s when I met its director Sleeba. It is he who was ultimately responsible for what Abhinaya is today. He showed her photos to director Samudrakani and recommended her for his movie ‘Nadodigal’.”
‘Nadodigal’ proved to be a big hit, and she went on to act in its Telugu and Kannada versions, ‘Shambo Shiva Shambo’ and ‘Hudugaru’ respectively and won numerous awards including The Jaya Young Achievers Award, Sri Kala Suddha Telugu Association Award, Tamil Mahanagar Sangham Award, felicitations from Chiranjeevi, Santhosham Award and innumerable other laurels.
In 2010, she acted in the Tamil film, ‘Easan’, where she was given a substantial role.
In ‘The Reporter’, directed by Venugopan, she essays the role of Sara, who teaches disabled children. The first schedule of the movie has already been shot at Guruvayoor. According to the director, it is a woman-centric film, against the backdrop of a recent incident. He says, “Abhinaya does justice to her character and we feel that the girl has immense potential.” Kailash, Ananya, Samudrakani and Jagathi are the others who play significant roles in the film.