In an interview with The Times of India, she said, “Everything that you see onscreen. I think that’s what appealed to me to do this. And I haven’t played such a character before. So, there was that curiosity on how the role would turn out if I play it. I think that’s also one of the reasons why Anbukka (Anwar Rasheed) wanted me to do the role. Anbukka took the risk and it wasn’t easy for him. Frankly, it’s also the first time that someone has approached me to do a character like this. It’s not like I took a decision that I won’t play such roles.”
She was asked whether she hoped the audience’s perception of her would change after performing similar roles, she said,” The time I was most active was during those two years (2013 and 2014), and back then I was really busy to entertain such thoughts. And there was so much love from the audience for my roles, and I didn’t go through that phase where I had to think about that.”
She tells us what helped her play Esther better — “More than the character, it was her habits that I was more worried about. I wanted to get those right before we started to shoot – be it smoking or drinking. I didn’t want to look like an actor who had no idea about these when she was playing a chain-smoker and an alcoholic. We had already decided on Esther’s look, so I had to get that right too. But apart from these, there weren’t any other preparations. Everything else was done on the set.”
Being such a bold attempt at the subject matter and an integral involvement of Fahadh in the film, she was asked if the two discuss the characters and the content before the shoot. She said,” Yes, at different points. Fahadh was involved in the film, much before I was approached to do a role. So, I was in the loop about the discussions and the story before I became part of the film. I always knew that feeling of the movie and what they were trying to do with Trance because obviously we live in the same house.”
When asked if Fahadh was involved with his character even behind the camera, Nazriya stated, “I think he is. He is totally into the film till it is over. He works on his character every day even after coming home. Trance, especially, had a lot of dialogues including Bible verses and he was completely involved in it.”
We questioned her on how Fahadh has been supporting her life and career, to which she said,” Being an actor, it’s kind of an inspiration to be around him. His dedication and hard work for each and every film push me too. He has always been supportive. There has never been a discussion on whether I should or shouldn’t do films. There was a time after our wedding when I had lazy days and he would say, ‘You should listen to scripts. Entha madiyaayo?’”
Since many directors had been a part of Trance, we asked her what was her biggest takeaway from the film. She said,” Being there and seeing the process. It was unlike any other film I did. To be part of a movie with such great names, irrespective of the length of the character was a big deal.”
When asked if she is seeking out roles now or just waiting to be cast as a character, she said that she’s been waiting for roles as that’s how she works. She says she sometimes misses doing back-to-back movies. But now she has clarity on the kind of films she wants to do and the roles she wants to play.
When asked how the industry had changed compared to the time she was active and now, she said,” The biggest change would be social media. It has become crazy now. There are so many ways to put out your film and promote it. It has become easier and better, but at the same time, you must be careful. Anything happening behind the scenes comes out instantly. We are also at a good space and amazing content is being made.”
Having acted 2 films with her hubby, she was asked if there would be a start to end Fahadh-Nazriya film to which she said,” These movies are all baby steps for that. Let’s see when it happens.”
She was asked what keeps her busy while she is not doing movies. She said, “I realise that there has been a gap between my films only when people tell me that. That’s because we are either producing a film or listening to scripts. So, I have always thought that I have been part of the cinema. Otherwise, we are at home or we travel whenever we can.”
