Quotes from Nithya Menen

For me, a story has to have characters, and my role should be meaningful. At the end of the day, people should say that they like my performance.

I'm not insecure. Give me a good role, and I'll perform even for a multi-starrer with half a dozen other heroines!

I'm not really interested in doing a Bollywood film.

I try to choose characters that are very different; I think I have succeeded in that. A big role or a small one does not bother me at all. What matters is that I should have a rapport with the director.

I don't like this concept of second role, small role. It is a story, at the end of the day. If I am suitable for a character, I am glad to reflect that through my choice of films.

If you worry too much, it shows in your acting, and it ceases to be effortless.

Soundarya was always respected, and she is looked at in a certain way that I always would like to be looked upon as an actress.

As an actor, it's really exciting and challenging to play a character which is much older than your actual age.

Your heart and your instincts are far more reliable than your brain. When you follow your heart, you can be sure you won't regret it later. Even if you calculate your every move, it's not like life ever goes according to plan.

When I first heard the 'Urumi' script, I was surprised, shocked, and excited. It was a strong script with a reference to the past. It had fact mixed with fiction. To incorporate facts into a film and introduce fictional characters was interesting. I loved the script.

All of us just go to college and waste our time and to pass our exams. So just learning journalism does not mean I'm good at it or any of the journalists are, either. There is no difference; it's just class, and it's just college.

Acting was never planned.

Nobody goes to college and learns anything.

It doesn't feel great to be compared to Genelia or anyone. I don't want to be compared, and I would like to think I am different.

It's not in every film that you connect to the role.

I've been blissfully ignorant about the result of my films and don't get swayed by success or failure.

I must tell you that Telugu film industry is one of the most comfortable places I found a woman can be. They do make a lot of mass films, but from my experience as an actor, I can tell you that people are very nice and welcoming. In fact, it's slightly more difficult in other places.

I don't prepare for any role. I go on the sets and do it.

My cinema is of a different kind: give me a good meaty role instead of two or three songs and running around in foreign locations wearing itsy-bitsy costumes. I'm clear and focussed about my priorities.

Being an actress does not mean that each thing that happens in my life has to be news or meant to be shared with others. Acting is a profession, and once I leave the sets, I want to be left alone.

I am just an actor, and this is my job. What I am doing is not extraordinary.

I was eight years old when I was offered a film. And before I knew it, I was acting in Kannada, Malayalam, Tamil, and Telugu movies.

I don't sing professionally; I sing because people who make my films want me to sing. So, as long as they want me to croon in the film, I will sing.

I fell in love at 18 when I was in college, and that's probably why I know what it's like to be in love, and I can express it in a better way.