Though a Malayali, for the bubbly and beautiful Iswarya Menon, who has worked in all other South Indian films, Mollywood came calling last. But, the wait was definitely worthwhile and Iswarya will be seen playing the lady lead opposite Fahad Fazil in the upcoming film tentatively titled Njan D P Pallickel.
“I have watched Fahad’s movies like 22 Female Kottayam and Oru Indian Pranayakatha, and I admire him a lot. He is one of my favourite actors in Malayalam,” says Iswarya. Njan D P Pallickel is also the debut outing of Abi Varghese, noted for his popular sitcom Akkara Kazhchakal aired in 2008.
The film which had the working title ‘Bourbon Street’ is expected for Onam.
Ask Iswarya more about the movie, she says: “It is a fun movie with comedy and drama going hand-in-hand. The plot revolves around the lives of Malayalis living abroad and is taken in a retro style. It was a great experience for me. Besides a handful of Malayali crew, rest of the technicians were foreign. It is taken in sync sound format and it is another first for me.”
“It was a friend who referred me to Abi and later I appeared for a screen test. He had auditioned candidates from many places, even from the US. So while I was travelling in a train, I got a call back from him. He asked me ‘Would you be my Rekha’, the character of the film. I was on cloud nine and since I knew about Abi’s earlier work and I came to know that Fahad is the lead actor, I didn’t even ask for a script before saying yes,” says the chirpy actor.
Iswarya says her character Rekha is a Malayali living abroad. “She is an independent and practical woman,” says Iswarya without divulging more about her character.
On her experience working with Fahad, she says, “Fahad is a spontaneous and natural actor. And is extremely good with dialogues. On the sets, he is a silent person and talks on point. While Nasriya and I got along much. We went out for shopping and had lots of fun during the shoot.”
Iswarya who was noted for her roles in the Kannada horror-comedy Namo Boothatma and Dasavala and Tamil flick Apple Penne had always wished to be an actor. “I love dancing and used to be active in theatre in school and college. So when I see actors on screen I always dreamt of acting like them,” she says.
Iswarya is a trained classical dancer, who also knows salsa and contemporary.
The 23-year-old who gave away a well paying IT job for the tinsel town says:, “I was confused because both the job offer and film came at the same time. I was doing modelling and advertisements while doing BTech, so I knew the industry a bit. And finally I gave in to my hearts desire.”
Iswarya will start her Tamil film next month. “A Malayalam project is also in the pipeline, but both films details I can’t reveal much. All I want is to do every kind of role and prove myself as a good performer,” she signs off.