Playback singer Anju Joseph to debut as an actress through 'Roy'

Singer Anju Joseph is an artiste who came into prominence through music reality shows, many years ago. E

ven as she made a name for herself as a singer, she also received offers to act from big names in the industry, including director Kamal. However, she didn’t take up those offers and decided to stick to singing. But that didn’t stop her from appearing in short skits and videos presented through her social media page, and her onscreen performance was appreciated by many.

And now, the youngster has finally given acting a go. In the upcoming

Suraj Venjaramoodu-Sija

Rose movie Roy, directed by Sunil Ibrahim, Anju debuts as an actress, playing a singer – Youtuber! And according to her, the debut was quite accidental.

She tells us, “Sunil ikka’s associate Vipin chettan is a friend of mine. Once, he called me and asked, ‘There is a film coming up, will you act?’ And I replied in jest, ‘Oh, pinnentha (why not?)!’ It’s when he called me on later to finalise the schedules that I realised he is being serious!” Anju says she didn’t have to do an audition and it looked like the team was confident she was right for the role. “I didn’t ask them ‘why me?’ but they said they were sure I can pull it off,” says Anju.

The artiste apparently didn’t know what her character in the film was until she reached the set. “I was quite tensed, and couldn’t even sleep the night before shoot began. I don’t experience such butterflies in the stomach in connection with singing — probably because it’s something I am used to. I remember reaching the film’s set around 6.30 am. I was asked to get my makeup done and later, I understood my character was quite like me, and is a singer-YouTuber, who is quite talkative and vivacious. She is also Sija’s character’s cousin in the film,” says Anju, and reveals her first scene was with actor

Vijeesh

aka

Noolunda

. “It was a short scene, but the team helped me out immensely, and gave many pointers like how we should perform even when we have nothing to do in a scene. And I understood that you learn the craft by observing. Sunil ikka also used to very clearly explain what his requirement was, and used to act out and show us. So, from the second day, things were simpler,” says Anju, whose second film is Aishwarya Lekshmi-starrer Archana 31 Not Out. “I thought I can do it, thanks to the experience on Roy’s set. I play a teacher, who is a friend of Archana, played by Aishwarya, " signs off Anju.