From Aaha to Bheemante Vazhi to Hridayam: Megha Thomas, the Delhi Malayali is winning hearts in Mollywood

Actress Megha Thomas has charmed the Keralite audience with her incredible performance in the Kunchacko Boban-starrer Bheemante Vazhi that is garnering good responses from all quarters. Megha, who is settled in Delhi, made her debut in Oru Njayarazhcha (A Sunday) that fetched Shyamaprasad the Kerala state award for best director in 2019.

She essayed a pivotal role in Aaha, the sports drama based on ‘vadamvali’ that was directed by debutant Bibin Paul. Meanwhile, Megha is awaiting the release of Hridayam directed by Vineeth Sreenivasan. Her character Kinnari, a Kannadiga, in Bheemante Vazhi has become a break in the actress’ career. In a candid chat, Megha opens about her passion for acting and her future projects too.

From theatre to the big screen
Megha admits that acting has never been her biggest passion. Even though she was active in the extracurricular activities in the school, Megha didn’t try her hands in acting. However, her mother insisted she joins a theatre group during the long vacation after her plus two. That was her first step towards acting. Megha hails from a Keralite family that is settled in Delhi. She became part of big plays and productions during her stint at the theatre group. Megha then acted in a musical drama like that of an opera, which had amazing music too. The actress says that she had to spend up to six months rehearsing and performing a play.

Oru Njayarazhcha
“Oru Najayarazcha narrates the stories of two couples in different age groups. The parts of the couple who are above 40 years were shot first. This happened in 2014-15. However, the parts of the second couple weren’t filmed as the makers couldn’t find the actors who suited the roles. So, they had to give up the movie halfway through. Later, in 2018, director Syamaprasad decided to complete the movie and held an audition. I came to know about that movie through Murali, a friend of my close friend. I had auditioned for the role of Suja. Syamaprasad liked my profile, and his assistants did the audition. It was only after that I had met him. I was then chosen for the role of Suja. A week-long workshop too was held at Thiruvananthapuram. Meanwhile, the movie was shot at Kanyakumari,” says Megha.

Sally, who had acted alongside Megha in Oru Njayarazhcha, had shown the movie to Ashraf Hamsa, the director of Bheemante Vazhi. Ashraf who was impressed by Megha’s performance in Oru Njayarazhcha cast her in Bheemante Vazhi. Megha says that she didn’t know Ashraf Hamsa personally before she became a part of his movie. However, she used to share her works as the director was quite active in the film and advertisement fields.

Kinnari
In 2020 September, Ashraf Hamsa called Megha and asked whether she would be free in December that year. He had called when Megha hadn’t committed any other works due to the pandemic situation. “His phone call instilled hope in me. However, he didn’t tell me about the other cast members of the movie. I was thrilled to become part of a movie directed by a talented filmmaker like him. But there wasn’t any communication for some time after that. I began losing hope. He then called me again in November and narrated the story. There is an emotional phone conversation between Bheeman and Kinnari. I was really touched by it. It was only then that I came to know that Chackochan, Chemban Vinod and Gireesh Gangadharan were part of this movie,” recalls Megha.

Evergreen hero
During her childhood, television was the only means to watch Malayalam movies as she and her family were settled in Delhi. Unlike these days, not many Malayalam films made it to the big screens in Delhi and TV had been the major source for watching movies. On Saturdays and Sundays, she would keep switching channels to watch two Malayalam movies at the same time. She recalls watching Aniyathipravu on television as a kid. Megha says it is incredible that Kunchacko Boban looks the same then and now. She confesses that she was tensed to act alongside a senior artist like Kunchacko Boban who has been in the industry for over two decades. Megha says that the veteran actor is an amazing human being and was comfortable to work with.

Bheemante Vazhi
In Bheemante Vazhi, Megha plays the role of a railway engineer who hails from Karnataka. Actor Chemban Vinod who is also the script writer of the movie had worked in Bengaluru for a while. Kinnari was Chemban’s close friend in Bengaluru. He had given Megha’s character the name of his best friend. “There is no similarity between Kinnari and me. However, that character had inspired me personally. What I found interesting in Kinnari’s characterisation is her ability to accept and respect another person’s opinions even if she doesn’t agree with them. Agreeing to the disagreement- that attribute of the character kind of motivated me. I don’t know whether I can be like that in real life. So, Kinnari was a great learning experience for me. There are around eight women characters in this movie. The screenwriter and the director have been able to give them unique identities. The women in this movie are self-sufficient. They have experienced losses, but they are not ready to spend their lives whining or crying about it. They face life with strength and courage. They are intelligent and approach life in a practical way,” concludes Megha.