Her ombre-dyed hair in a sleek bob, Nazriya Nazim looks different. Gone is Kerala’s sweetheart: Ohm Shanti Oshana’s Pooja Mathew, Bangalore Days’ Divya and Koode’s Jenny. Enter the hard-drinking, chain-smoking Esther Lopez of Trance, her latest movie. “Let me tell you, that me is still here,” she says. And as she laughs, we catch a glimpse of Nazriya, as well as Pooja, Divya and Jenny.
She talks to MetroPlus about becoming Esther Lopez, and more.
Was this film a conscious choice: an attempt do something different from what audiences have come to expect?
(Pauses before answering) I don’t think too much about choosing a film or the character in it. Frankly speaking, it was not at all a conscious decision. There are, definitely, a lot of things the character does that I didn’t know how to — Esther is a smoker and an alcoholic. These were concerns, it shouldn’t look stupid like it is being done by an actor who doesn’t know how. I didn’t have reservations about doing this character. I was excited about doing this role. And I was curious about people (the audience), since they haven’t seen me in a role like this, how they would react. That they would wonder ‘what happened to this girl?’ (laughs). I wanted them to say that ‘she is different’ (in the film) That excited me about this role.
You did Anjali Menon’s Koode (2018), and now Trance. Are you spacing your films?
(Laughs) No, it is just that I have become a little lazy. That is all. There is nothing like I will do one film and then wait four years for the next. Nor did I decide that I’ll take a two-year break after Koode. If a project excites me, fits with my time and makes me think ‘let’s go and do this’... Koode and Trance were two such films. In fact, both films happened to me at the same time. Trance took some time. When I listen to a script I don’t think too deeply, my thought is ‘will it excite me to do this?’ I don’t overthink.
How did you prepare to become Esther, given that she is very different from your other roles?
Like I said, she is a smoker and I was [Nazriya fakes gagging], like Divya in Bangalore Days when she takes her first puff. Everybody on the sets was like ‘Moley, you need to learn how to do this.’ Obviously I also did not want to look like a novice... so there was that, learning to smoke and stuff. My father was like “will you have smoke coming out of ears as well?” (laughs) That was the preparation part of it. The character is not someone I know, for that I spoke to Anbukka (Anwar Rasheed) about the character – her maturity, what has shaped her.... That was it.
This is the first time you are acting with Fahadh, after marriage; after Bangalore Days. (Nazriya married actor Fahadh Faasil in 2014)
During Bangalore Days we did not know each other – we were not talking to each other much. Then we were like ‘we like talking to each other’. Now we are two professional actors. Because we are acting together, we don’t take work home and discuss it. That is very important to me. At the most, Fahadh will ask ‘was that scene okay?’ because he thinks about the film he is working in throughout. Otherwise, on set, it was just like working with any other actor, it was very comfortable. And (laughs) we are going together to work. In the mornings it was like who is going to get ready first.
Do you ask Fahadh for advice or inputs on your films?
I don’t have to go and ask him for advice ... I live with him and I see how much work he puts into his films. It is an inspiration just watching him. Sometimes I wish I had at least a percentage of what he has.
Are they any other films that you are working on?
I was like let Trance release first. I am listening to two scripts, nothing has been finalised.
Fahadh and I...
One scene that moved you in Trance?
There is a scene in the film where Fahadh’s character asks Esther, ‘Is there something wrong with me?’ Esther knows there is, but by then she has a soft corner for him and she looks him in the eye and says ‘No’. That was, for me, the most poignant scene in the movie.
Unlike many female actors in Malayalam cinema, you continue to work in films after your marriage. Was this something you had discussed with Fahadh?
No, there was nothing to discuss as such about it. It was pretty much clear that both of us would do whatever we enjoy doing; there would be no rules or regulations! In fact, once Fahadh asked me, 'Ehy don’t you listen to some scripts?’ (laughs). I have been working before as an actor and I continue to work.
The way we work are completely different. In Trance, most of my scenes were with him. I have always admired him as an actor and so that tension of keeping up with him was always there at the back of my mind.
Does Fahadh help you with acting tips?
On the set, we would discuss, like any other actors, the scenes. But, for me, the character lives between action and cut. When you are watching him act, that really makes you give your best. He has told me a lot of times that he really loved me in this film.
Malayalam viewers have seen you grow up from a chubby child star in Palunku to a teenage sweetheart in Ohm Shanti Oshaana to this troubled woman with a past in Trance...
Frankly enough, I have been lucky. I did not have to really search for a movie. Nothing was planned. It all just fell into place. Whatever excited me, I took it up and did my best. And that’s about it.
And your turned producer last year with Amal Neerad’s Fahadh-starrer Varathan?
It was a joint decision. Fahadh wants to concentrate only on his acting when he is shooting. So I decided to join hands with him, listen to stories and so on. It was an organic process. There has to be someone to look into the nitty-gritty and that is how I turned producer with the film. I plan to produce more films if I come across interesting stories.
Which is more challenging, acting or producing films?
Production has a lot if risks but I think acting is more challenging. You have to make a character look real.
Saraswathy Nagarajan