It was a standing joke with the family. If they ever teased her about joining feature films after her acting stint in the TV serial Chakrangal, the pretty Remya Lakshman would reply airily, "I'll join films only if I get a Mani Ratnam movie or a role with Mammootty.'' Quite sure, the eventuality of acting with superstars and super directors were quite dim for a Malayalee expat girl in Abu Dhabi (though she had won many beauty pageants since she was 12).
And one fine day she received a call from film studio coordinator K.P. Salim, in Dubai, asking her if she will audition for a Malayalam movie. Starring none other than her idol – Mammootty.
This training administrator/coordinator in an Abu Dhabi-based company was shocked, to put it mildly. Remya recalls excitedly, "It was my day off and I was lazing around the house. And I got this call out of the blue. The unit had been shooting for the last six months in Dubai and they were hunting for a modern girl.
Would I be interested? I was shocked and surprised. "How did they hear about me?" I asked them. "Apparently, they had seen my interview in a Malayalam newspaper.''
At the outset, the scriptwriter, Renji Paniccker informed her that she was not playing the principal heroine in the film. The lead actress in this glossy, fast-paced multi-crore film, Dubai, directed by Joshi, is Anjala Zhaveri, a Mumbai star.
Remya's role is a negative one to start with as she's used as a pawn in a business feud between the main characters in the film – Mammootty and Hindi film actor, Nirmal Pandey. She elaborates, "I play the role of a spoilt brat who's come down from America. But, later I realise my mistake and I make amends.''
Dubai is produced by VBK Menon's Anugraha films and is scheduled to be released next month. The movie took a record eight months and around Rs 60 million to make, she says. (These figures are not the norm in the Malayalam film industry.)
Remya with superstar Mammootty, and her mother and a Dubai co-star ©Gulf News |
Her first shot was an action sequence with Mammootty, she recounts. "I'm in a sports car with him and he's meant to race his car into the Hamriya port. It was a public place and we had 300 people gaping at us. It was unnerving,'' she recalls.
But her first brush with her favourite star was well, casual. "The first thing I said to him was that my sister is a big fan of Mohan Lal, but I'm a great fan of yours." To which the actor reacted after a silence, "Good, then let's go'' and started the car. For the rest of the film, he was very supportive offering her tips about her make-up and hair, she recalls.
Remya has not made up her mind about pursuing a film career, she says. "I've had offers for Shahji Karun's Malayalam film with Abbas and Suresh Gopi and a Tamil movie. But, I feel very secure with my life in Abu Dhabi and I hesitate to throw it all up and move to Chennai. Films are a gamble and I don't wish to take that risk. Also, I'm waiting to see people's reaction to Dubai.''
Remya has had no formal training in acting. But this young Miss Dubai 1997, and former Miss Kerala UAE believes acting is an "exaggeration of our normal life'' and develops with more exposure to the craft.
She has no qualms about working in the big bad world of films. Remya adds, "My experience with this unit was good. They treated us well and with respect. From the superstar to the spot boy, each person was treated equally. In Malayalam films, they place greater importance to your acting rather than glamour. They are not just looking for a pretty girl with a thin waist.''
However, this role did require Remya to look beautiful and trendy. But, this young Indian girl who believes fate played a hand in her debut role in Malayalam films is content at present to dwell on the satisfying memories of having acted opposite the superstar she adores.
