‘Love doing good roles but not here to prove a point’

CHENNAI: Dressed in a red sarong skirt, Regena Cassandrra presents a picture of poise as she is seen promoting her upcoming Tamil movie, VidaaMuyarchi releasing on February 6. After tasting success with south films in the initial stages, her performances and perseverance has helped her carve a niche for herself across industries in Indian cinema. However, Regena believes that not everything comes easy. “The journey has been difficult, yes. But if you ask whether I have been choosy when it comes to scripts, I would say no. Although from an outsider’s perspective, my career has changed for the good, I personally know that it is still a struggle,” she begins.

Despite her last Tamil film having released only 14 months ago, VidaaMuyarchi is still touted as her ‘comeback film’ in Tamil. “Had someone told me about making a ‘comeback’ a few years ago, I would have not been fine with the term. Over the last few years, I have only taken the positives out of it. Conjuring Kannappan released in December 2023 but still people talk about VidaaMuyarchi marking my Tamil comeback. I understood that the audience would love to see me more often than they are seeing me on the big screen now. I wish they saw my work in other languages as well. Also, the timing of the releases of a few of my films like Party and Borrder are not in my hands,” remarks the actor.

Coming to VidaaMuyarchi, in a few glimpses from the film is understood to have played a role in which she hasn’t been seen before. The audience and netizens have built a certain amount of expectations around her role. Earlier, in an interview with us, Magizh Thirumeni opened up that it was Regena’s character that he had to write from the scratch and will be a role to look out for in the movie. The actor recalls how she came on board the movie and adds, “Magizh sir and I were to collaborate for a project previously. But that did not materialise. He again called me for VidaaMuyarchi and I wasn’t in Chennai at that time. He was kind enough to give a narration virtually. Magizh sir also said that I am a good actor, but I haven’t been given the right character that could justify my potential as a performer and this film will do that for you. Moreover, he has a humane touch to him, which I really admire.”

Having played characters like Mrinalini Sarabhai in The Rocket Boys, Sameera in Evaru and Mariam in Nenjam Marapadhillai to name a few, Regena has come across people calling her an underrated actor. “I have heard this a lot of times from several people that I am an underrated actor. That also gives me a sense of competition and trying myself hard to prove a point. I am not here to do that. I love the roles I do and I feel blessed. I am content with the characters I have been getting and I would love to do more of such roles,” she remarks.

As the conversation veers towards Ajith, she says that given a chance, she would want to work with him again in the future. “People generally say, ‘Don’t meet your heroes’. I am a person who is generally not starstruck. But I respect them because it is not easy to stay on top for a long time. But having met Ajith sir, I can tell you that I was in a good space working with him. We all went out for dinner in Baku, where we were shooting. He joined us and ensured that we all had a good time. The thing is, he is also consistent,” says Regena.

With VidaaMuyarchi due for a release, Regena is now shooting for Jaat, a Hindi movie. “The film is directed by Gopichand Mallineni and produced by Mythri and People Media Factory. It is good to see south technicians and producers making a Hindi film. I am currently shooting for that. There is also Section 108, another strong content in the making. But wherever I go, whatever I do, at the end of the day, I am a Chennai girl,” she signs off.