A gifted dancer makes long-awaited debut on silver screen

Methil Devika, a renowned danseuse, makes her film debut in Kadha Innuvare, showcasing her talent beyond classical dance.

On a warm Sunday night in the summer of 2016, the full house at the St. George Parish Hall in Kalady, near Kochi, was treated to a remarkable theatre production. The play Naga, directed by Suveeran, was an adaptation of Girish Karnad’s Nagamandala.

The surprise package of the night was the performance of Methil Devika in the lead female role. She belied her total lack of experience in acting with her stunning performance as a young wife.

But those who have watched her perform Mohiniyattam would not have been too surprised. She is a gifted danseuse who excels in classical dance’s every element, including acting.

But acting beyond dancing was something Devika had not been keen about. She has been rejecting offers of major roles in Malayalam movies ever since she was 17. Some of them were from renowned directors and for films that went on to become big box office hits.

She has no regrets. She is, however, finally making her debut in films with the Biju Menon starrer Kadha Innuvare, which opens in cinemas on Friday.

“I liked the script and my role, so I decided to do the film,” Devika tells The Hindu. “The director Vishnu Mohan had been talking to me about the film for a year and a half and I felt it was something I could do.”

She says she didn’t do films earlier because she was preoccupied with dance, not just as a performer, but as a choreographer and academician. “I knew that I could not have done whatever I wanted to in dance if I had said yes to films earlier,” she says. “I could not have done a Phd or made films on dance. Besides, I didn’t want to be a dancer from the fame one gets as a movie star.”