Nadia Moidu on ‘Wonder Woman’: ‘Anjali Menon challenged me to think differently’

Talking to Nadia Moidu is like meeting an old friend. that infectious laugh, the joy to liveIt all happens through a telephonic conversation with the actor as she talks about her role in Anjali Menon’s film wonder Women,

Nadia plays the role of Nandita, who runs an antenatal center where six pregnant women from different walks and walks of life come to prepare for motherhood. wonder Women It is about how these women go through milestones and journeys together. It’s about empowering each other.

Nadia tells that this is a journey in which a family travels with their future mother. “It is not just a woman’s issue. The whole family is involved in supporting the mother and the new life that comes into existence. It is a beautiful journey that passes over nine months, a journey that gradually grows on you. ,

The veteran actor believes that women have a special bond within a group. He feels that “the bond, the energy and the craziness that women have is something else.” Although the other actors were younger than her, Nadia experienced the same bonding on set.

“Living with a bunch of sharp, intelligent and funny women was a learning experience. He is not only an extremely talented actor, he is more knowledgeable about the craft, more knowledgeable about his work. Today’s generation is so active about their work. The conversation we had was wonderful. This is a different school. I’m still old school. I took away a lot from the film,” says Nadia, who made her cinema debut with Fazil’s evergreen film Nokketha Dhoorathu Kannum Nattu in 1984.

Working with Anjali Menon for the first time in a film, Nadia admitted that she was over the moon when the filmmaker offered her the role, as she was a writer-director Nadia was keen to work with. .

Nadia Moidu as Anjali Menon’s Nandita wonder Women
, photo credit: special arrangement

“Nandita is such a lovely character. When you reach my age, you get into the kind of characters you usually play so easily. Streaming platforms are where women can be seen as heroes, a place where age is no barrier,” explains Nadia.

Pointing out how the director has beautifully woven the characters in this film, she says that the cast was comfortable with Anjali. “Even those who are acting for the first time [Sayanora Philip] felt at home. I was probably the only one who didn’t connect with Anjali as much as the others. ,

Nadiya says that while she is happy working with male directors, working with a female director creates a special comfort zone for any female director. “I had many firsts while shooting for” wonder Women, I am used to someone giving me the script, asking me to find the line and then, maybe telling me how to modify it while speaking the dialogue. Then I go and speak the lines.

However, he was surprised when Anjali explained the gist of the situation and asked Nadia to speak whatever she wanted to say. Since Nadia had many dialogues, she remembers that she got upset when they were told to Adlib.

“However, Anjali was happy that I was ready to accept whatever was thrown at me. She does her job differently. It challenged me differently, made me think differently. He has a very different way of explaining things,” Nadiya elaborates.

Nadiya feels that when Anjali narrates a scene, she brings out many layers of characters about her past, who shaped her, where she comes from…

“She brings out that character in you. It’s not like one should explain that this scene will happen now, then the next and so on. She has a different story.”

As a mother herself, did she draw on her own experiences to land the role? Nadia says there were a lot of factors that took her back 25 years when she had her first child. “We lived abroad and I attended Lamaze (a type of breathing exercise for pregnant women) classes with my husband.”

Recalling the conversations she had with the other moms-to-be in her class, she adds, “We talked about what each was going through, while the husbands talked about what was happening in their lives, The men were feeling uncomfortable with the whole situation.”

Nadia will soon be seen in another Malayalam film, an anthology based on the stories of litterateur MT Vasudevan Nair. “It is an OTT film and I have worked with Fahadh Faasil in it. Working with Fazil Uncle (Director Fazil) in ask before (1985), I remember seeing his son Fahadh running around the sets as a little boy. It was fun shooting with Fahadh and working with him.”