Actor Meenakshi Jayan says he often dreams of winning an international award for acting – when his name is announced, enthusiasm, hugging people sitting next to him, and slowly walking on the stairs. Suddenly, the dream turns into a bad dream – the stage crashes, the stairs break, and the actor falls. “My mind will start playing tricks. I was never able to put myself on a big platform. It once felt that I was never there,” the winner and winner of the Best Actress Award in Asia asked for their performance in the new talent category of Asia at the Shanghai International Film Festival for their performance. Victoria,
“But now, I can put myself in big stages,” Meenakshi said to Shanghai on WhatsApp. Actor played the title role VictoriaA young beautician -directed by Shivranjini J, essaying the internal conflicts of a young beautician, who is planning to get out with his Hindu lover after finding out about his Catholic family relationship, while forcibly assigned to take care of a cock.
Meenakshi Jayan and Cock Victoria
Photo Credit: Special Arrangement
The actor symbolizes conflicts faced by young women against the backdrop of a woman’s only beauty parlor, “dedicates prizes to women who were reported that they were too much.” “I am going to be too much today,” he announced during his acceptance speech.
Meenakshi’s entry into Victoria Can be described as predictable. After responding to the casting call, he received a call from one of the Associate Directors, who told him that he was looking for a girl who speaks Angmali dialect. From Tripunithura, on the other side of Kochi, Meenakshi took it as a challenge and traveled to Angamali to talk to some people there. He spoke to the butcher, mobile shop owners and textile saleswoman and recorded these conversations for reference.
“As I was about to return to Tripunithura in a KSRTC bus, I called the Associate Director to see if he could associate me with someone who speaks the bid and he immediately mentioned director Shivranjini. He told me that he was at the Angamali KaretiC bus stand where I was in my bus.
Shivranjini (Director) Victoria), Anand Ravi (DOP) and Meenakshi Jayan | Photo Credit: Special Arrangement
Meenakshi described another coincidence about her casting. “On my audition day, I found it on Chechi While I was waiting for the bus. He asked me where to meet a bus for Angamali in the typical Angmali dialect. Since we were going in the same direction, I decided to stay close to him and talk to him till the audition. During our conversation, she told me that she runs a beauty parlor called Meenu.
Prepare for the role
The actor worked in a beauty parlor for a month to prepare for the role. “Beautician in Parlor, Neithu Chechi And Victoria (another employee in the beauty parlor) taught me pedicure, henna treatment, threading, massage and more. Nethu Chechi Used to take notes me. Had fun.”
Shivranjini got the idea of ​​a cock in the beauty parlor when she faced the same in a parlor where the cock was a gift for a church. “Cock, Parthan, was a fun member. We didn’t need to communicate anything for him. We took many of his shots, just reacting to some and added them to the final editing. He was very cooperative,” Meenakshi says.
A still Victoria
Photo Credit: Special Arrangement
After Victoria
Victoria In 2024, the premiere was at the 29th International Film Festival in Kerala, where it won the FIPRESCI Award for the Best Malayalam film by a debut director. Meenakshi was awarded the best performance at the Independent and Experimental Film Festival in Kerala in 2025. The film was also released at the cinema house in Mumbai and the Habitat Film Festival in Delhi.
“For the first time I was for a flight VictoriaScreening in Mumbai. My first international visit was for this festival. I applied for a passport because Shiva told me. I realized how big the world is Victoria“Meenakshi says, recalling an example in the film where the character says that he is not in an aircraft.” Now Shiva and our dope Anand Ravi see me when that scene comes. ,
Meenakshi Jayan on screening of Victoria At the cinema house in Mumbai. Photo Credit: Special Arrangement
For women
“A lot of people can meet Victoria To be added. It sees confusion and concerns within people from a unique perspective. It is also from the point of view of one of the most amazing women I have met, “actor says, a commercial release is expected to be released. VictoriaMeenakshi is also awaited for the OTT release of a web series directed by Pr ARUN in which she plays a bizarre character.
“I will wait for another character like Victoria forever. All actors will yearn to be a part of such character-driven films; This includes female actors. How long you can work as someone’s girlfriend, wife, or mother? We can write deeply to the well-written female characters,” Meenakshi says. “And the ladder should not be broken nor the stage crashes.”
Published – June 24, 2025 05:14 pm IST
