Acting is not Karthika’s bread and butter

She is the daughter of yesteryear actress Radha, and niece of Ambika, both of whom were stars in their own right down south. Yet Karthika Nair, who will make her Sandalwood debut with Darshan’s Brindavana, says that acting was not exactly part of her plan.

“I was born and brought up in Mumbai, where my dad runs a chain of hotels and resorts. I grew up on a staple diet of my mom and aunt’s films, but thought that I would take up dad’s business. In fact, I was all set to take up a course in hotel management in Switzerland, when the offer for my first Telugu film, Josh, came. I was on vacation then, and we thought, ‘Why not try it out?’. Soon after, I signed up for the Tamil film Ko and Malayalam film Makaramanju.

I spent nearly a year on the making of Ko and realized that studying abroad was not going to happen, as they are very strict with attendance. Instead, I enrolled for a distance education programme with the London School of Economics. I have another year left to complete my graduation and if I do, I will perhaps be the first actress to complete the course. It is very tough,” says Karthika.

Now that films have happened for her, the young actress tells us that she will enjoy this phase for as long as it lasts. “I have no illusions about being an actress all my life. It is also not my bread and butter. I want to do good cinema in various genres, as I have been doing so far, for as long as I can. But yes, I have a backup plan in place. That’s not to say that films are not priority. While I am at it, I will give it my all,” says Karthika, who has just wound up work on Brindavana, and now heads home to Mumbai.

“I will miss the team of Brindavana. Years ago, immediately after Josh, I had got several offers to act in Kannada films. I did not take them up as I was not sure if I was ready to take on another alien language, just months after having struggled with Telugu (the actress speaks Malayalam at home). But when this film came along, there were several factors that worked in its favour. For starters, it is the remake of a very successful film, so you take it for granted that the formula will work here too.

The producers have gone out of their way to ensure that their version looks grand and have spared no expense, be it in flying us to Iceland or Thailand, among others. And last, but not the least, the fact that I am debuting with one of Kannada cinema’s biggest stars Darshan,” she says and adds, “But now, I need a break from all of this. In the south, people recognize me and I can’t be myself and have fun. Back home in Mumbai, though, I am a regular youngster, who can hang out with friends, go mall-hopping, hit the theatres, etc.”

Up next, Karthika will join the team of her Tamil film Deal. “But before that, there is a mandatory trip to Kerala for Onam. My grandmother celebrates her birthday at around that time. My dad is very particular that we stay true to our roots and hence we visit family there often,” she says.