MALAYALAM: The last person Meera Vasudevan bears any resemblance to in real life is the docile Lekha, the character she essayed on screen in her debut Malayalam film ‘Thanmathra.’ Meera is a bolder and more practical version; the woman of today. Without fuss or frill, she goes candid about being disappointed at doing the coy-housewife-in-her-late-30s roles, setbacks on the personal and professional fronts and the new man in her life. Excerpts from an interview:

Why I went missing

I was tired of the mother roles coming my way and desperately needed a break! It was only after I did a handful of similar roles that it finally dawned on me - ‘I better put a stop to it.’ So the break I took was on purpose. In the meantime, I assisted adman Sleeba Varghese and learned the tricks of the trade including the concepts of ad making, script writing and professional photography. I did a diploma in advertising and public relations during this time and acted in a few ads.

My Hindi debut

Not many know that my debut in films happened in Bollywood. My younger sister entered films as a child artist but she soon gave up. But I took on from there into the world of ads and serials. After seeing me in the ICC World Cup cricket ad, director Parvathy Balagopalan’s mother recommended me to her film ‘Rules: Pyar ka Superhit Formula.” The romcom was my debut in tinseltown. It fetched me a nomination for the best debutante in the Indian Express Screen awards and the Sansui film awards. My second project was the Tamil film ‘Unnai Tharen Adaindhen’ which won me a critics award. ‘Thanmathra’ came next.

‘Thanmathra’: pros and cons

I started my career quite early and I must thank Blessy for making me a household name in Kerala. The character Lekha, the wife of a person suffering from Alzheimer’s, was well-received. Blessy wanted me to put on some 35 kg for the role. I was only 19 then and I played mom to a teenager who was just four years younger to me! But the roles that came my way after ‘Thanmathra’ were all the same - the doting housewife and mom in the late 30s or early 40s (Vairam, Ekantham, Khaki and Oruvan). In a way, I was punished for being a performer. I’ve had enough! From now on, I’ll do only roles that suit my age.

Current projects

My next Malayalam film is director Anil’s ‘Kali’ which will be released by the end of October. I play a teenager who gets married to a doctor and goes on to become a social activist. In Tamil, I’m part of debutant director Vijay Prabhakar’s film ‘Dasayinai Thee Chudinum’ which revolves around three generations of women. Then there’s ‘Attanayagan’ where I play a village belle and a Telugu film with Prakash Raj. A Hindi project is also in the pipeline.

Looking forward to...

Doing peppy, powerful and negative roles. I want to show you all that I’m capable of doing these too! I want to do commercial mainstream cinema and do roles like that of Kareena Kapoor in ‘Jab We Met’, action-packed roles like Vijayashanthi’s and the bubbly roles Genelia D’ Souza is into.

Walking past setbacks

I was keen to avoid rumours and gossip once I joined the film industry. So I got married before I was mentally prepared for it. Things didn’t work out between us; but the past is past and I’ve moved on. I wish Vishal all the best.

Love. Again!

John Kokken (remember the villain in ‘Love in Singapore’?) and I are quite open about the fact that we are seeing each other. I had shut myself away from the media after I went through a bad patch in my personal and professional life. There were times when people called me up in the middle of the night and threatened to throw me out of the industry. It was John who lent me a helping hand to tide over crises.

I want to...

Make my mark as an actor and film technician and take Indian cinema to a different level, to an international platform. I want to leave behind in cinema something for generations to carry forward.