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 Simple, stylish and sweet. These are probably the words that could best describe the talented actress of
‘Malli’, ‘Kutty’ and more recently,
‘Navarasa’. Yes, P.Shweta was the protagonist in the critically acclaimed film ‘Malli’, directed by Santosh Sivan, playing the title role, on an adventure to find a blue wishing stone to help cure her best friend’s ailments. P Shweta, fondly called PS, has been acting since she was five. A beholder of two national awards, two international awards, one Kerala state award and four private awards, Shweta is one person who has the talent to make it big in the acting arena. Fresh from the completion of her 12th board exams, Shweta discusses about her acting background, her movies and her plans.
To start with, let me ask you the obvious
question. How did you enter this field?
Well, it so happened that my uncle knew director Bharathiraja’s manager. When I was about three years old, he called me for a movie, but I couldn’t do it as I was in Hyderabad then. Two years later, I was offered a role in the movie ‘Andhi Mandhaarai’. It was a small role but it paved the way for several offers later on. I was then given the role of Meena’s junior in Cheran’s ‘Barathi Kannamma’. The role was hugely popular. From there started my journey into this field.
Where did you go from there? I learnt that you've done quite a lot of commercials.
Yeah. I’ve done about 50 advertisements. Reynolds crayons, cookers, to name a few. Because I had done many ads, many model coordinators had my photos. Through this, I got a chance to act in a tele serial called ‘Doctors’. It was a prominent role where I played Revathy’s daughter.
We’ve seen that you’ve done quite a few movies with Santosh Sivan. How did you get this chance?
After Santosh Sivan decided to make ‘Malli’, he happened to get my photo from some of the model coordinators. So, there started my tryst with Santosh sir.
 How was it like acting under such a great director?
Before ‘Malli’, I had done a very commercial movie called ‘Manam Virumbudhe Unnai’. When I went to the sets of ‘Malli’, I realised that this was going to be completely different from the other movies. That’s when he taught me how “not to act”. He asked me to “live the character”. Besides, Santosh Sivan is an extremely jovial person, so it was wonderful acting under him.
You started acting when you were very little. Was there someone specific who helped you in acting?
Well, my mother used to always accompany me to the shooting spots. But she never tried to teach me how to act. She always believed that the director knows best! So, all in all it was Santosh Sivan who actually brought out the talent in me. All credit goes to him.
How about school? How did you manage the popularity and did you miss too many of your classes?
I wouldn’t say there was sudden popularity. I had been acting since five. I didn’t miss too many classes because ‘Malli’ was shot in about 13 days and it was done during vacation. I should consider myself lucky because most of my movies have been shot during holidays so I didn’t miss too much of school.
You recently acted in ‘Navarasa’ and earlier in ‘Malli’ and ‘Kutty’. All these have been extremely serious roles. Do you like only such movies or are you open to commercial movies too?
Frankly speaking, I’m not totally for commercial movies. It is very difficult for a child artiste to get extremely good roles. Probably, in movies like ‘Anjali’ and
‘Kannathil Muthamittal’, a child artiste played the pivotal role; otherwise, not all child actors get such good movies.
So, are you completely isolating yourself from these commercial films?
Not completely. Only if I get roles that are really female-centric and decent, will I do them.
You acted as Surya’s younger sister in ‘Aayitha Ezhuthu ’. Would you like to be his heroine some day?
I’m not sure. It depends on the kind of script and the director. Probably then I’ll decide.
Who’s your role model in this industry?
I’m really fond of Nandita Das. I love the choice of her movies. She does movies on social welfare which offer a lot of scope for acting. I would love to do such movies.
What are your favourite movies? Who’s your favorite hero?
I am a complete Kamal Haasan fan. I adore all his movies. I really like ‘Anbe Sivam’, ‘Virumaandi’, basically all his movies. Among the heroes, I like Kamal, Vikram and Madhavan a lot.
Tell me a little more about ‘Navarasa’ especially because it was such a different film.
Again, this was because of Santosh Sivan. It was my third venture with him. It was a wonderful experience. I also acted in a Hindi movie called ‘Chiraayu’. It was a collection of five movies on the Gujarat earthquake, directed by the five best directors of India. I acted in Santosh Sivan’s version, ‘Saraswathi’. Here I played the role of a little girl called Sarawasthi who had lost her parents in the quake.
 What are your other interests and any plans?
I am planning to do biotechnology as of now. As far as the acting career is concerned, I’m awaiting a good role. My interests include reading books, browsing the Net, hanging out with friends, etc.
How about your school life?
I studied in Holy Angels till my tenth and did my 11th and 12th in DAV, Gill Nagar. I’ve been a complete prankster and many a time got into trouble. Overall, it’s just been amazing.
My last and most important question to you. You happen to be such a great achiever, yet you are so down to earth and extremely friendly. How is that?
(Laughs) I should thank my parents for it. They’ve always taught me never to be too complacent. They’ve constantly told me that I should never be headstrong. I thank them for it totally. But I am happy to have received the awards at such a young age.
With a giggle and charming smile, Shweta bids goodbye. Well, I could take pride in something. I happened to be her classmate for two years! Here’s wishing her all the success!
Sandhya Santhanaraman
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