Kabani, her character in Love 24x7, is a simple village belle who turns into a suave newswoman. But Nikhila Vimal says she is more close to the shy, salwar-clad girl than the dapper and confident TV anchor.
“In real life I am not a typical metro girl. I stand somewhere in between both the avatars,” says the actress who made her leading debut with the film.
In Sreebala K Menon’s newsroom drama she plays a girl who talks in typical Trivandrum slang, and Nikhila says getting the colloquial part right was quite a struggle. “I come from Kannur and had no clue how to speak this particular slang. It was my co-star Krishnan who taught me all the local nuances. But by the time of dubbing I was almost comfortable with the language part,” she says.
Nikhila had the biggest surprise of her life when the name of her hero was announced.
“I never thought I will be making my leading debut opposite Dileep. When I was roped into play the role, the casting process was not complete. At that time I had no idea who the hero would be,” she says.
Nikhila says she didn’t go through any audition for her role in the film. “My first film was Bhagyadevatha and Bala chechi was one of the associates. Later, she got in touch after seeing a couple of photos I posted on facebook.”
She wasn’t expecting any M-Town biggie to play her hero and Nikhila agrees she was a little apprehensive at first. “He joined the set after two weeks and I was really nervous about sharing the screen with him. But he turned out to be really friendly and helpful.”
She says she was equally comfortable with all the senior actors including Sreenivasan and Suhasini. “All of them were very cooperative and filming was real fun. We celebrated Vishu at the location and for me it was a memorable experience,” she adds.
Though she is not an experienced professional, Nikhila says she had no jitters on day one. “For my first shot I was asked to walk through the channel office smiling and nodding at people. It went really well.” But the young actress seems more excited about the feedback she is getting.
“There has been umpteen calls since the day Love 24x7 released. And, yes, it feels wonderful,” she winds up.