Right now, actor Shalu Kurian is in Kozhikode busy shooting for the teleserial Kayamkulam Kochunniyude Makan aired on Surya TV in which she plays Naseema. It is a period drama and Shalu sports an altogether different appearance in it. “Naseema is a positive character,” begins Shalu. However, she is more familiar to Malayalis as the naughty, villainous Varsha of Chandanamazha.
But Varsha is in a transition mode now. “She has become positive. The audience response has changed accordingly,” Shalu says. “At the same time, there are people who love the other Varsha. Generally, people hate negative characters. So, when I got such a feedback, I thought it was because my acting was not convincing enough. Later I realised that audience actually likes her naughtiness,” smiles Shalu, who is thrilled to juggle two extremely opposite characters at a time.
She loves trying different kinds of characters and does not find it a difficult task to accomplish. She has proved that she could handle it. Having begun her acting career with a documentary, Shalu gradually moved to serials. Krishnapaksham was her first. Then she was part of serials like Thingalum Tharangalum, Chattambi Kalyani, Indira, Kadamattath- achan, Swami Ayyappan and Sarayu. She had also handled a humorous character in Kudumba Police. Although she had acted in a few movies, Shalu returned to the mini screen after completing her graduation in Economics.
“Acting was a quick decision. One fine morning I told my parents that I wanted to act. They took that in the right spirit and I was into acting. They appreciate art though they are not artistes.”
It was the advertisement of Indulekha that changed her career. “Sreekumaran sir invited me to do the title role in Chattambi Kalyani seeing that advertisement. Then, I was Rajani in Sarayu, which remains close to my heart. Eventually, I landed in Chandanamazha, which made me popular.”
Shalu wishes to continue acting in serials. Also, she wants to resume her dancing lessons that have taken a backseat due to her busy schedule.
