I would love to come back and act in the south: Nyrra M Banerji

A visit to Bengaluru brought back a whole lot of memories for Bigg Boss 18 contestant Nyrraa M Banerji recently. She marked her big screen debut with a Telugu film in 2009. Films in Tamil, Malayalam, Kannada and Hindi followed. The actress, who has been seen on various reality shows over the last two years, says she conciously took a break from South films after the demise of her grandparents, who she had spent most of her childhood with. “Since my dad had a transferable job, I spent most of my childhood with my grandparents. They were more like my parents and I was shattered when they passed. I took a two-year sabbatical, and in that period discovered spirituality,” she reveals as she talks about her tryst with spirituality and working in the South. Excerpts from the conversation:
‘SPIRITUALITY IS WHAT REALLY HELPED ME FEEL COMPASSION’
I believe all religions have come from a common source of spirituality. You are supposed to be compassionate towards everybody and everything. When I lost my dad and my grandparents, I was emotionally very low. But, spirituality helped me bounce back and I also understood that being compassionate to other humans is all it takes to be happy. Now, that happiness reflects on my work and me.
‘I DID FACE LANGUAGE ISSUES WHILE WORKING IN THE SOUTH’
I loved being on the sets of films in the South. The schedules were well planned, starting off early morning and wrapping up early, which gave me time to focus on myself. I also got to do a lot more films because people work with a fixed schedule, here. The only challenge was when it came to speaking with the crew and staff. It was easy to communicate with co-actors, but connecting with the rest of the local crew was difficult as I was not well-versed in their local language.
‘There is a bigger tendency to typecast actors in the south’
I feel that my work in the south led to a certain amount of typecasting. For instance, I was only offered roles where I get to play a homely character. I was stereotyped a bit. Now, in Bollywood, I play a variety of roles and I am therefore very happy with the choices I’ve made. I only say yes to a role if I know it give me the scope to perform.