No longer interested in playing a cute, bubbly girl: Hansika Motwani
Having shed a few kilos since her last appearance on screen, former child actor Hansika Motwani looks svelte as she sits down for an exclusive chat with DC.
The Aranmanai star, who has been MIA for a while, tells us about her break from K-town, a proposed exhibition of her paintings in Chennai, turning down over 30 clichéd scripts, and bouncing back.
“I wouldn’t call it a sabbatical. I was getting a lot of offers, but I was no longer interested in playing a cute, bubbly girl running around trees. I felt the need for a change, the need for growth. So I waited for the right offers and chose Thuppakki Munai with Vikram Prabhu and 100 with Atharvaa. In both these films, I have strong, impactful roles. I also play a complex character in Jameel’s untitled suspense thriller,” she begins, adding, “After Aranmanai broke all the records for a female-centric film, I received over 30 scripts. But I didn’t want to be typecast.”
So what has she been doing with her time, we ask. “I was shifting to my new apartment and I was completely involved in setting it up. I designed my entire room myself, and that took up a lot of my time. Also, a few kids adopted by me were taking the board exams, and they needed me to boost their morale. Thankfully, they have all passed with decent grades,” Hansika says, smiling.
We’ve heard that her new room resembles a palace. Is it true, we enquire? “Hmmm…..sort of! It has white walls decked with handmade mirrors. All the accessories are in shades of silver and white. And there’s minimal furniture - coffee tables and chandeliers hand-picked from Italy and Dubai.”
Yet another hidden talent that has kept the actress busy is painting. “Painting gives me happiness. I have been working on various forms for a few years. Now, I have finally completed a series of 14 paintings of Buddha. I plan to hold an exhibition in Chennai by the end of the year. I am still working on the brand name and other things,” she reveals.
Why Buddha? “There’s no religious connotation involved. When I look at a picture of Buddha, I get good vibes. I have drawn various forms of Buddha, and now, I’m curating them. They’re not actually done with paint, they’re drawn with chalk. So as soon as I complete a piece, I have to frame it immediately, which takes 5 to 6 hours,” she says.
Talking about her experience on the sets of Thuppakki Munai, Hansika is all praise for the delicious food co-star Vikram Prabhu would bring from his annai illam. “It was lovely working with Vikram. I have also shared screen space with his dad Prabhu sir in the past. We used to get yummy home-cooked delicacies from Vikram’s house. It was a great experience.”
Her debut Malayalam film, Villain, with Mohanlal and Vishal, was a hit. Is she interesting in doing more M’town flicks? “I would love to explore Malayalam films, and I do receive offers. But as of now, my hands are full with Tamil projects. But, yes, if some quirky scripts come my way, I wouldn’t miss them,” she says.
What’s her take on biopics of yesteryear actresses, we ask, would she be interested in doing one? “Why not? I would love to do a biopic of Sridevi ji. She’s my role model. And our interactions on the sets of the film Puli are unforgettable. The first film of hers that I watched was Sadma opposite Kamal Haasan sir. I was just ten years old then, and yet, I was moved by her performance. That image of her has just stuck in my brain,” she says.
