Born in Kerala, she has mastered the traditional art forms – classical dance Mohiniyattam and marital art Kalaripayattu. Moreover, she regularly practice yoga and speaks 5 languages. «Tikli and Laxmi Bomb» is new movie with Divya Unny, which you can see this winter.
Where do you draw your energy and inspiration from?
I am a very people person and so I draw my inspiration from people mostly. I try to surround myself with people who allow me and themselves to grow. And by growth I do not mean financial success or a career upswing. I mean people who wake up every day and try to make their world better. I have a friend who is a single mother with two beautiful daughters. She is also an actor. I see her strive to her dream every day, despite responsibilities that bog her down. I see my father who has been a widower for 10 years now, but he sings, writes, and makes sure his daughters don’t have one dull moment in their lives. They both inspire me. I also practice meditation and yoga, (except for days, where my laziness takes over) which helps me conserve my energy and channel it in the right direction.
Beauty or kindness – can both exist in one person simultaneously?
My answer is an absolute yes. Kindness comes most naturally to me and you because it is in us, inherently. It is in every person or being ever lived. Now the fact that many of us these days make a choice to be kind is a bit tragic. I feel people are born to co-exist, help and share, and there’s really no other way to live. That’s why when I see kindness around me it becomes a picture of beauty in itself. It goes hand in hand. I think anyone who is kind is automatically beautiful.
What, in your opinion, prolongs life and makes a woman glow the best?
So for me pursuing my passion and being with people I love is the best way to live a good life. And especially for a woman her deepest glow comes from being in love, with herself and understanding how truly capable she is of changing the world. When she loves herself, every experience can make her glow.
Do you like to experiment with your appearance?
Honestly, I know the one look that I carry is the best and I stick to that, purely because I’m a bit lazy to experiment. I don’t go overboard shopping or getting a wild haircut because I want to look different. In fact I don’t even have the balls to get a tattoo! As an actor I get to try on all different kinds of looks and that satiates my appetite for experiments anyway. So in life you’ll usually see me in a simple cotton kurta (traditional upper garment in India) with jeans, curls let loose, smudged kohl (eye cosmetic in India) under my eyes and dark lips. Yes, if I do choose to experiment someday I would like to shave all the hair off my head. That would be something I really want to try.
What, in your opinion, is the most important in personal care: sports, cosmetics, something else?
I think, a good diet and an active workout regime are most important in personal care. After a session or yoga or martial arts, the glow I see on my face is incomparable to anything a beauty product can offer. I strongly endorse the quote: «You are what you eat»! I am a vegetarian, and I think it reflects in the way I am, both physically and emotionally. Of course it’s important to groom oneself and have basic personal hygiene, but it’s no point powdering your face every day and then going on and binging on a happy meal.
To what extent is it possible to follow a regimen to keep oneself healthy?
It’s very possible once you put your mind to it. What we do is we suddenly realise we need to be healthy and indulge in all kinds of crash diets and gym routines. That’s a problem. We need to understand what our body is asking for, and indulge in healthy eating bit by bit. Like if you cut sugar out of your system suddenly one day, your body will retaliate badly. You have to substitute that with good amount of natural sucrose in the form of fruits. Eat everything you enjoy to eat, but stay moderate with it. Even the best regime will fail if you overdo it.
