The last time Malayalis saw Nikhila Vimal was as Kabani in the 2015 film Love 24x7. Her growth from the nervous girl to the confident TV reporter in the movie somewhat resembles her real life progress. After making her debut as a heroine with Dileep, Nikhila signed up for a Tamil movie opposite actor-director M. Sasikumar, followed by two more from Tamil and two from Telugu, including the remake of Oru Vadakkan Selfie. Now, after a short while, she is back to Malayalam, playing a classical dancer in Aravindante Athithikal.
The natural first query is why the break. And she replies, “The break in Malayalam was not something I planned. In fact, movies too came to me out of the blue. I never had dreamt of becoming an actress.” When Kabani got noticed, the first offer came from Tamil and she grabbed Vetrivel. The team took her on board their next project Kidaari, again with Sasikumar. Then happened her first Telugu movie Meda Meeda Abbayi, the Vadakkan Selfie remake, with Allari Naresh. “I have been getting offers from Malayalam in between, but I wasn’t sure I could do justice to mature characters. I am childish and always choose roles in my comfort zone. I can’t do a heavy character that I am not confident of pulling off.”
It was the same thought that made her reject the lead role in Ramante Edenthottam. Nikhila surprises saying she has no regrets. “I am glad that I didn’t take it up. Anu Sithara played Malini to such perfection. I wouldn’t have been able to carry it off with grace,” she says. So what made her choose Aravindante Athithikal? “The character Varada is a dancer and I could relate well to her,” she says. Dance, to Nikhila, is a legacy. Her mother Kalamandalam Vimala Devi is a dance teacher who ensured that her daughter got trained in bharatanatyam, kuchipudi and Keralanatanam. “I have learned dance forms but don’t call me a dancer. I don’t perform regularly and I don’t practise like a dancer,” she says.
In Aravindante Athithikal, directed by M. Mohanan, Varada has come for her arangettam in Mookambika Temple and stays in the lodge run by Vineeth Sreenivasan’s character. “Vijayaraghavan plays my dad and Prem Kumar plays my uncle. It’s an ensemble cast with actors like Urvashi, Shanti Krishna, KPAC Lalitha, Sreenivasan, Sreejaya and Aju Varghese. The shooting was so much fun. It was a great experience. Whenever I was confused about how to express and what to say, Vineeth helped me with suggestions and tips. Such a nice person he is, treating everyone with respect,” she recalls.
The shooting will wind up in a week and the movie might hit the screens in March or April. Before that she has two film releases coming up — Tamil movie Ranga with Sibiraj and Telugu film Gayathri starring Mohan Babu. Life has never been a planned route for Nikhila. A graduate in Botany, she left studies midway when films came. Now, she has joined the University of Madras for post graduation in Women Studies. “I hope to continue my studies. I have been missing it so much,” she concludes.
