Nithya Menen on her Best Actress win: ‘My intention has always been to do roles that make people happy’

Nithya Menen talks about winning the National Award for ‘Thiruchitrambalam,’ why a win for a film in this genre matters more, and reuniting with Vijay Sethupathi for a new upcoming film

The multiple-award-winning actor Nithya Menen has another feather to her much-adorned crown, and it’s inarguably her biggest to date. The actor, who has worked in all the southern film industries, as well as Bollywood and English films, bagged the National Film Award for Best Actress recently for her role in Thiruchitrambalam; she shares the honour with Manasi Parekh who wins for Kutch Express.

“I think I was in a bit of disbelief when I heard the news,” says Nithya when asked about her big win. “I was in the middle of something at home, and was about to have lunch when Dhanush (her co-star from Thiruchitrambalam) called and said ‘Congratulations’ and my immediate response was ‘For what?’,” says a laughing Nithya.

“And that’s when he said ‘What do you mean, you’ve got the National Award!’ and I thought he was joking. It was definitely unexpected.”

Nithya affirms that she is not an actor who likes to choose characters with the expectation of an award. “That’s one thing I have not clearly done,” she says and it’s obvious for those who have caught her avatar as the friendly-girl-next-door Shobana in Thiruchitrambalam or her other roles in Tamil films like Mersaland O Kadhal Kanmani. “My drive has always been to choose exciting films. I want to leave the world a better place than what it was when I came in. I wouldn’t say I like doing very morose themes or exhibiting negative emotions. My intention has been to do roles that make people happy and I feel it’s much nobler to do that.”

The actor is especially elated to win an award for a romantic comedy-drama. “Any work done for a film, even if the genre is light, deserves credit and recognition. Every film doesn’t have to be a Revenantto be actually good. There’s a lot of debate on social media on how I fit more in such lighter films and it’s not at all true. It’s actually a choice. Can I do the other roles? Of course, I can. But I just don’t want to,” says Nithya who adds that “doing happy roles make her happy.”

“So being given validation for a film like Thiruchitrambalam for me is very big, and I’m grateful to the jury for having the subtle eye and recognising it even though the genre is a lighter one.”

Nithya laughs when asked about her plans for the celebration. “I don’t know if it’s good or bad that I don’t celebrate anything. I shall probably treat myself to a film (laughs). I’m in the middle of my next film’s development and I’m very much in the moment. You need to do the work to get the awards, right?”