‘Sensible choices and huge hits take us closer to the audience’

CHENNAI: Catherine Tresa is certainly not the one to rest on her laurels. Having tasted tremendous success even in the very initial days of her career, the actor made it a point to try her hands in every genre that is being made and has been repeating the success with mega hits like Bimbisara and Walter Veeraiya in the recent past. “Huge hits and sensible choices like these take you closer to the audience. However, my approach and my focus on choosing the scripts since the beginning of my career has been the same. I go with the ones that offer me a lot that I could do on screen in terms of performance. I am an actor who believes in bettering myself with each film and moving forward. I want my characters to be more challenging than before,” she says.

The audience across languages have made her their own. She is fondly addressed as Meenu Kutty from Kathakali or Kalaiyarasi from Madras by the Tamil audience and as Hansitha and Ira by the Telugu movie buffs. Catherine feels that it is a good time to be an actor with several well-written roles and new avenues being offered in the industry. “The kind of content that is being made these days is top-notch. Then there is the OTT space, with beautiful narratives of late. We can pick and choose on what kind of content we need to be a part of and how we can challenge ourselves. These are times that have the potential to bring out the best in us,” she remarks.

It has been a little over four years since Catherine was seen in a Tamil film, with Aruvam being her last venture. She clarifies that she hasn’t shifted her focus away from Tamil, while her fans have started commenting on her social media posts asking if their wait would end anytime soon. “It is not a conscious decision to not be part of a Tamil film since Aruvam. The truth is that, after the last set of releases, I haven’t landed a script that I could commit myself to yet. I haven’t come across any characters or roles I could sign. Meanwhile, I have been busy with my Telugu commitments as well. I’m open to working in Tamil as and when I land the right story,” reveals the actor.

While a few of Catherine’s on screen characters have left the audience with a lasting impact, she says that there are a few roles that inspired her lately. “Fallon Carrington played by Elizabeth Gillies in Dynasty is one. I liked the way her character progressed. The fact that she stayed strong despite facing hurdles and her self-confidence. Another one is, Julia Garner from Inventing Anna, certainly not the conning part but the grit and determination she had is something I liked. I would love to pull off such roles as an actor,” concludes Catherine.