In 2021, the release of Jathiratnalu shed light on its debutant Faria Abdullah, who charmed everyone with her girl-next-door presence and easy warmth.
While some found her remarkable for her height, others were tickled pink by her comic timing. Offscreen, Faria continued to make her presence by posting dance videos, sharing a peek at her comparatively esoteric interests with the legion of her followers.
Cut to 2023, the actor finds herself in the throes of a second debut. This time, she is entering the Hindi industry with The Jengaburu Curse, which is also incidentally her OTT debut. The actor recounts that behind every choice she has taken professionally, a sign led her — be it a rejected application to FTII for Jathi Ratnalu or a tattoo in the case of The Jengaburu Curse.
The actor speaks to Cinema Express about her upcoming release, the inevitable burden of social responsibility, and more
Excerpts
You will be noticed, and discovered even by a whole new set of audiences with The Jengaburu Curse. How is your headspace right now?
I feel just the way I did when Jathiratnalu came out, to be honest. Be it then or now, I have believed that the content will change everything. The only difference is that people did not know me back then. People began to call me Chitti everywhere after Jathiratnalu, I hope that folks will also see and accept me as Priya now. These characters have been very impactful for me, I can only hope that the audience can also feel the impact I made.
Can you speak more about Priya, your character in The Jengaburu Curse?
Priya is a working professional based in London, a financial analyst to be precise. She has to leave her life and come back to Odisha to search for her missing father. What makes the character really interesting is that she is into big businesses and big money but her family is the complete opposite. Her dad is an activist, and her mom, is a member of an indigenous Bondria tribe. Owing to the life she has made for herself, she lives with a certain kind of detachment from the consequences of what her work could do to people in another part of the world. These contrasts make her life all the more interesting.
This role is a far cry from the series of lighthearted characters you have essayed so far in Telugu cinema. How did you prepare for this role, and gear up for the challenges it threw?
You are right, this is unlike anything I have done before. Priya is not a happy person, she ran away from her past only to be forced back into it due to some untoward circumstances. Whatever happens to Priya in the course of the series, it is either traumatic, shocking or sudden. I prepared on the go. Before I would go to the shoot, I would find music that can drive me towards feeling pain. I would also find ways to cry and cry till I got all gloomy and my face got swollen. I did not even go home initially to stay connected with the role, but I eventually did leave after a few months, after all that pain became too much (laughs).
The Jengaburu Curse is marketed as Cli-Fi or climate fiction. How has your understanding of climate change, so to speak, evolve, after working in the series?
While I feel that the matters of good and bad are indeed subjective, I do believe that all of us have social responsibility. For actors, it is a lot more, because the nature of our work is so public. We have a responsibility to raise awareness about the different kinds of violence in the world, be it communal, environmental or global. The Jengaburu Curse was a wake-up call for me. We have one planet, and we must do what we can to protect it. I have always heard this from others, but I have come to feel it strongly now. In the larger scheme of things, we are not different from the planet we live in, you know. We are not a part of nature, we are nature.
You are a native Dakhni speaker. The linguistic identity you have fringes on both Telugu and Hindi. Did you feel that as well, or conversely, do you think being Dakhni helped you get an easy entry point into both Hindi and Telugu-speaking cultures?
I always try to find similarities between the people I work with. We are all humans at the end of the day. I am like water, I like to go with the flow. But yeah, it is good to know that I don't fit in everywhere I go, because what’s the fun in that now?
You are making your Tamil debut soon in Valli Mayil…
I am eagerly waiting for it to come out. We still have one more schedule left to shoot. Vijay Antony sir is a gem, he is wonderful to work with. Our director Suseendran sir is a National Award-winning filmmaker, so I am super proud and honoured to be on his sets. The way he treats his actors, and the way he frames these specific shots, it was all so inspiring and beautiful.
His story is set in different eras, and I play the titular character, a theatre artist. It was great to be a part of this world. Closer home, I am working in a film with Allari Naresh. We are shooting it right now. It is a family entertainer, Jamie Lever is also acting in the film, and I am excited to be a part of this project, amidst such funny, talented actors.