RDX introduced me as a Malayali to the Malayali audience: Mahima Nambiar

Mahima Nambiar, the girl from Kasaragod who has made a career for herself in the south industry, is back in Malayalam, or in her words, "introduced to Malayalam" through RDX. The actress opens up to us about her return, choice of films and her experience working with senior actors like Mammootty and Kangana Ranaut...
To some extent, yes. In fact, I can say it introduced me as a Malayali among the Malayali audience even though I have done a few films here before.A lot of people, including my co-star Anthony Varghese, was not aware that I am a Malayali. Before RDX, the kind of characters I played in my previous Malayalam films were all minor characters.
I have always wanted to be an actress and my parents knew about it. Even as a child, I used to be very conscious about not exposing myself to the sun or playing outside. I was worried about falling and having marks on my arms and legs. I'd think the scars would be seen on screen once I become an actress. But I had no means of coming into the industry... no connections as such who could tell me where auditions happen. A Tamil director saw me at Bekal Fort in Kasaragod and that was my first opportunity. When the casting team behind Karyasthan saw my picture after that, they chose me for the role (as actor Dileep’s sister).
Mahima as a person is very simple. I don't like doing makeup; I don't do my hair or even dress up. My mother always complains that I need to do at least the minimum when I go out. I make sure that I look decent when I go out for film functions, but otherwise, not really. I will be very happy and fine if you leave me in my room for 10-15 days with food and my pets. I have two dogs, 13 cats, some birds and fish. It's like a zoo. That's the reason I've never even thought of shifting to Kochi or Chennai, and still live in Kasaragod. I don't mind travelling for work, but would rather return home and spend time with family and my pets.


After RDX, people are talking about the chemistry (with Shane Nigam) on screen. That could be one of the reasons I landed Little Hearts. They wanted someone who can easily connect with Shane and the team of the film
You have acted in two films with actor Mammootty. How was the experience?
My first film with Mammootty sir was Masterpiece, but we had no combination scenes in it. But unexpectedly, I met him during the dubbing of the film. He is very child-like, funny and down to earth. Then, I did Madhuraraja with him. Given an opportunity again, I'd run to the sets and work with him.
What do you look forward to in your career?
The Malayalam industry experiments a lot with their projects and performances. I want to explore performance-oriented roles here, too, rather than be the good-looking and cute girl. I feel I'm yet to explore that and am eagerly waiting for it
The film was a big opportunity for me as I learned quite a lot from P Vasu sir (director). Working with Raghava Lawrence was eye-opening (Chandramukhi 2). Dancing with him was the most difficult thing to do. It was very difficult to match his charm and grace on screen. Kangana (Ranaut) is a perfectionist, and she wants the work to be perfect. To see that and learn was a good experience.
Initially, when I went to work in Tamil, I knew nothing about the language. After the first film, I had learned to speak Tamil fluently. Now, I can read and write Tamil, too. I think I am good with languages. My mother is from Nileshwaram and my father is from Kannur. The kind of Malayalam I speak is an amalgamation of all, but it has never affected my dubbing. In RDX, I had to dub in Kochi slang and in Little Hearts, we use a different slang