Dressed in mauve crop top and jeans, Regina Cassandra looks stylish at the inauguration of a new store in the city. She poses sportingly and chats happily. “Comfort is my style statement. If you are comfortable, even if it is in a bikini, the world is yours.” The actor is in town to inaugurate the Lifestyle store at the newly-opened Prozone mall in the city. Her new Telugu film Nakshatram has just released. It is directed by Krishna Vamsi and she is acting with Sundeep Kishan for the third time after giving two hits like RoutineLove Story and Ra Ra… Krishnayya. “I hope the audience like this one too,” she says.
In the evening, she will take off to Fiji to join director Venkat Prabhu and his crew for an upcoming movie called Party. The film has some big names like Satyaraj, Nasser and Ramya Krishnan. “Party is based on the happenings in a day in Fiji. Like any other Venkat Prabhu film, it has an ensemble cast. I am looking forward to it,” says Regina.
Another film she is excited about is Selvaraghavan’s horror film Nenjam Marapathillai. “I’m dying to see myself on screen in it. My character Maryam wears a deadpan look all through the film which is something I have never done before. If you want to see a work of art, then it is in this film,” she says. She also has films like Silukkuvarupatti Singam with actor Vishnu, a bilingual period film called Madai Thirandhu (titled 1945 in Telugu) and more.
She has always been a part of diverse films, be it the recent Maanagaram that dealt with ordinary characters who land themselves in extraordinary situations or rom-coms like Gemini Ganeshanum Suruli Raajanum. One of her first films was a hiest thriller called Rajanthanthiram that went down well with the audience. “I was lucky to get these films. At a time when newcomers are entering the film industry every Friday, I have got my share of good work. As an outsider from a family of medical professionals, I got an opportunity to be a part of good scripts.”
Regina feels she’s an evolved actor now. “With every film, I am learning new things. There was a time when the rat race bothered me. Thankfully, I have understood my niche and where I fit in. I am enjoying the phase now.”
She says Nenjam Marappathillai is a defining film in her career. “With Selvaraghavan I learnt about bringing out those fine nuances, without overacting... like a twitch of the lips and the blink of an eye …”