Radhamani in ‘Oruthi’ is an everyday woman we see around us, says Navya Nair

Navya makes her comeback to Malayalam cinema in ‘Oruthi’, releasing on March 18

From Balamani in her breakthrough film Nandanam (2002) to Radhamani in Oruthi, releasing on March 18, Navya Nair has travelled a long way, as a woman and actor.

Talking over the phone from Kochi, the articulate actor says she is happy to make her comeback after 2012 as the leading lady of Oruthi, a woman-centric film.  

Directed by VK Prakash, the film revolves around Radhamani, a conductor in a jhangar in Kochi. Her trials and tribulations, her dreams and the daily grind of a working woman form the crux of the film. “Radhamani’s husband in West Asia loses his job but she consoles her husband and faces life with an optimistic attitude. Radhamani is an everyday woman we see around us,” narrates Navya.

She adds that Oruthi was chosen because the character is realistic. “I have seen several women, including my mother, do a tightrope walk to try to do justice to the many roles that society expects of women. I am a good listener and observer and that helps me get into the skin of a character,” says the actor who has won two Kerala State Film awards for the best female actor for Nandanam, and Saira and Kanne Madanguka (2005).

Was it difficult to play the character on a moving jhangar? “Not at all. Shot over 25 days in Kochi, I had no difficulty at all in becoming Radhamani. In Jalolsavam (2003), I had to row a small country boat. That was not easy and I spent a week learning how to do that,” says Navya.

She hastens to add that in the case of cinema, it is teamwork that is behind the success of a film or a character. Every single team member matters. No film is ever one person’s effort, she believes. Oruthi unfolds over three days and Navya in a no-makeup role, shines in the trailer.

One of the frontline heroines in Malayalam cinema in the noughties and the first decade of the 22nd century, Navya had also made a mark in Tamil and Kannada.  Like many other heroines in Malayalam cinema, she took a break from films after her marriage in 2010.