Gulf News talks to Nyla Usha about hitting the big league in Malayalam cinema, Mammootty, and Dubai
Read the full story here: https://gulfnews.com/entertainment/bollywood/video-mammootty-discovered-me-dubai-rj-nyla-usha-on-her-rise-to-fame-in-malayalam-cinema-1.89694915
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Read the full story here: https://gulfnews.com/entertainment/bollywood/video-mammootty-discovered-me-dubai-rj-nyla-usha-on-her-rise-to-fame-in-malayalam-cinema-1.89694915
See more videos at https://gulfnews.com/videos
Read more Gulf News stories here: https://bit.ly/2HLJ2km
Subscribe to Gulf News on YouTube and watch more of our videos: https://www.youtube.com/user/GulfNewsTV
#UAEnews #indian #mammootty
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NewsTranscript
00:00I was never an academically brilliant kid or anything.
00:02I was a backbencher, never good in studies and I never knew where my destiny is going to take me.
00:09Good morning, this is Manjusha Radhakrishnan from Gulf News Tabloid.
00:13Today I have a very special person with me.
00:16She is a Dubai-based RJ, Naila Usha, but she's also an actress.
00:20It's amazing to meet Dubai-based residents who have made a name for themselves
00:24and she has also quoted fame.
00:26So we're going to talk to Naila Usha about how she began,
00:29perhaps how difficult is it to become an RJ and an actress and how does she multitask?
00:34Starting off with what I wanted to be, I was never an academically brilliant kid or anything.
00:38I was a backbencher, never good in studies and I never knew where my destiny is going to take me.
00:43I didn't know what to take up in my college and stuff like that,
00:45so I took the subjects or the seats which were available,
00:48no one took it, that's how I did my college.
00:49But I wanted to be famous, I wanted to be with people,
00:52I wanted to be recognised, loved and all that thing was there in me.
00:55And I kept sending messages out to the universe that I want to be famous,
00:58I want to go do something.
00:59So cinema is the first step, right?
01:01Like you want to be famous, you want to be in the top of the, what do you say,
01:06that business and then it is cinema.
01:08From my family, they wouldn't allow me to be in cinema because very conservative family,
01:13they're like, no, you can't go to movies and stuff like that.
01:15So then was television.
01:17So I started off my career being a television presenter, which was not a full-time job,
01:22that was just a show you would go and host and you would get money.
01:25That is when I actually came to Dubai to host a show for a shopping festival.
01:30Back in the day, like say around 18, 19 years ago, shopping festival was a big deal.
01:35Everybody in Kerala used to like wait for the evening band to see just what's happening in the
01:40show, you know, in Dubai during the shopping festival and stuff.
01:42That's when I'm getting an offer from the same television channel saying that
01:46we'd like you to come to Dubai and host this show for us.
01:49So I was one of the few people who had a passport back in the day,
01:52you know, not every Keralite would have a passport, right?
01:55Which year are we looking at?
01:56This is 2004.
01:59So I had to go and convince my parents and stuff and yes,
02:02I was given the permission and then I flew down to Dubai.
02:05We were here for a month and we were shooting,
02:08you know, moving around the global village, which was then in Rashidiya.
02:11That was one of the best times of my life where everybody recognised me,
02:14they came, they took pictures, they showered me with love and all that.
02:17And when I was heading back home in the flight, I literally cried from the flight.
02:21I'm like, no, I don't want to leave Dubai.
02:24Like, you know, you go up the flight and you look at the well-lit Dubai and I'm like,
02:28oh, am I going to miss this place?
02:29Am I ever going to come back here?
02:31So my next thing, okay, I would marry somebody from Dubai and come back to Dubai,
02:34which is my next way to come to Dubai.
02:36When you send some strong messages out to the universe,
02:38it comes back or it's heard or whatever.
02:41So it conspired and I got a call from ARN.
02:44They were starting a new Malayalam radio station and that's when they said,
02:48you know, we're starting a mail station and we would want somebody like you there.
02:52So I had my apprehensions because radio was not big
02:54and we never had a Malayalam FM radio for me to know how big it is,
02:58how to be in the business and stuff.
02:59And I was like, and I was never happy about my voice.
03:02And no one ever told me that I have a great voice back in the day.
03:05And I was like, what am I going to do in radio?
03:06It's not even glamorous.
03:07We've never seen a radio presenter or no one is going to see you,
03:11what you're wearing and stuff like that.
03:12I was not interested in the job in the beginning
03:14and I took it up only because it was Dubai
03:17and I could come back to Dubai and see the place again.
03:19So I thought maybe a month I would stay here in Dubai.
03:22I would enjoy the shopping and all of that in their money
03:24because they're going to pay me the salary.
03:25But then I should say that changed my life.
03:282004, April is when I landed up in Dubai.
03:31And to talk about commitment, till date, 18 years,
03:34I'm super committed that a lot of other things came my way,
03:37like movies came up, television shows came up
03:40and you know, a lot of other business proposals came up.
03:43But I did not take anything seriously but radio.
03:46I still stick on to radio.
03:47I still do my morning show
03:48and I think that's my happy hour and happy place.
03:51So I was committed.
03:53After that, I was committed.
03:54Okay, till then I wasn't.
03:55This is my stress buster.
03:56You find your happy place.
03:58I'll tell you very honestly, acting in movie,
04:01the perks of it is when the movie releases.
04:03The making process of a movie is very boring.
04:05Like you sit all day in the caravan,
04:07like a person who's acted for 30 years
04:09would have acted like three years,
04:10would have done his work for three years only.
04:12The rest of the time was waiting.
04:14You just wait, wait, wait.
04:15So I keep telling everybody acting is waiting.
04:17So for me, that's not a very interesting part
04:19other than the fact that you get to play a character
04:22when the camera lights are on.
04:24That's a moment when you actually have to create,
04:26act like somebody instantly,
04:27cry, laugh, emote, go wrong, do takes
04:31and then the pressure and all of those are challenges.
04:33I have ADHD issues.
04:34So for me, waiting in a place,
04:36waiting for something to happen can't work.
04:38And I don't want to be at a job
04:40where I have to wait for someone to call me for work.
04:42You know what I mean?
04:43Like I have to wait for a director to call me
04:45to go and work in a film.
04:47Now when I do not have a job,
04:49I obviously become desperate after a point.
04:51Like, okay, only five movies came.
04:53I need to take one of the five.
04:54Now I'm comfortable.
04:56I can actually choose or say no to movies.
04:58And there is a good power to say no.
05:00I like the power of saying no.
05:01I don't want to do this movie.
05:03I like where I am right now.
05:04And to talk about radio,
05:05I do not see radio as a stress
05:08because every day waking up and making people happy
05:11or putting a happy voice is not stressful to me.
05:13It actually naturally comes to me.
05:15And no matter what happens,
05:17whether it's a bad day,
05:18you had a traffic fine or, you know,
05:20obviously all of us sometimes wake up on a bad day.
05:23But you come, you push your faders up
05:25and you start speaking.
05:26You completely forget about all of that.
05:28So to me, it is a stress buster.
05:30I laugh a lot.
05:31I have fun.
05:32There are bad shows and good shows,
05:33but 70% of the time when I do a good show,
05:36it makes you very happy.
05:37And you start off your day like that.
05:38You start off with people who come on it
05:41and like, hey Naila, what's up?
05:42And all of that.
05:43So there's this energy exchange,
05:44which I really enjoy.
05:46And here, what do you say?
05:47I make the show or I break it.
05:50But there it is not like that.
05:51In movie, no matter how 100% you give,
05:53if the movie is not noticed,
05:55all the hard work you put is like
05:56pound the way in, right?
05:57So when you put your headphones on
05:59and when there's music happening
06:01and I don't know, that's a mood changer for me.
06:04You cut off from whatever is happening.
06:07You say the IC change, you know,
06:08I just changed the IC.
06:09There's another chip that goes in.
06:11Now you're cutting off from the real life thing
06:13and there's something else that is happening.
06:14You're preparing for it.
06:15So you are taking, shifting your mind off
06:18whatever stress and things that you're having
06:20and you're investing it in something
06:21which is more, you know, what do you say?
06:23Creative and fun and all of that.
06:25So it's immediately a mood changer for me.
06:28I put on my headphones, I put the volume up
06:30and for me, yeah, that switch is easier for me.
06:33I would love to continue in this profession
06:35as much as I can.
06:36Recently, I was speaking to someone
06:37who was telling me that you have to go
06:40and make cinema happen for you.
06:42Wherein you have to go and talk to script writers,
06:44get their scripts, arrange for producers,
06:46arrange other actors.
06:47So that actually happens with male actors mostly.
06:51I don't know how female actors
06:54or an actor like me can make that happen.
06:56I cannot find or source a script writer
06:58to write a script for me.
06:59And I cannot take a producer to and tell him that,
07:02you know, I'm going to do your movie
07:03and I'm going to fetch you your money back.
07:05So I think for women, especially, times are changing
07:08and I just hope it changes
07:09because a lot of women who has taken cinema seriously
07:13and that is their first and main profession
07:15and I really hope for them the times change.
07:17But I think for me, what I have learned is
07:20cinema is about people coming to you with a project
07:22and waiting for that call, you know, is not pleasant.
07:26I was asked by a couple of other directors
07:28before Salim Ahmed to be a part of films
07:30and I, you know, upfront told them
07:33that I can't be part of films
07:34because my family wouldn't allow me to do that.
07:37When Salim Ahmed again came on board,
07:39I interviewed him for a movie, which I did not watch.
07:42And I spoke to him like I watched the movie
07:45and stuff like that.
07:46Yeah, and then I told him honestly
07:48that sir, I had not seen your movie
07:50and I think he was offended by that.
07:52He's like, oh, you didn't watch the movie
07:53because that movie was India's Oscar nomination.
07:56But actually me being part of the,
07:58me walking into movies or,
08:00it was all thanks to Mamooka, Mamooty.
08:02He's the one who actually told Salim Ahmed
08:04when they were planning on this movie,
08:07they wanted to do it on sync sound
08:08with Rasool Pukutty coming on board and stuff.
08:11Rasool Pukutty was big that time
08:13because he just fetched his Slumdog Millionaire
08:15Oscar and stuff.
08:16So they wanted someone who could speak
08:17and you know, sync sound is not very,
08:20you know, very common in Malayalam cinema.
08:22We do more of dubbing, right?
08:23We shoot it and then we go dub.
08:25So you speak in your own voice?
08:26Yeah, we, simultaneously you record your voice
08:30just like how I'm recording it right now.
08:32But then it's also a challenge
08:33because you have to get your lines correct
08:34because there is no room for correction later, right?
08:37So yeah, so that is when they actually,
08:40you know, came to me and asked me
08:42if I could be a part of it.
08:44I said, I don't know if I can act.
08:46Maybe you should give me an audition or something.
08:48So he said, so I went down to Palakkad
08:50where the shooting was just about to begin.
08:52He gave me one of the toughest scene
08:54to learn and perform.
08:55So I learned, I performed and he said,
08:57yes, you're doing the role.
08:59I'm like, really?
09:00So when I did the audition, I was confident
09:01because now they know whether I can do or not
09:03because I myself wasn't sure if I could do it.
09:06It was a new experience.
09:07I worked with the biggest names
09:09like Mamooka, Mammootty, Salim Ahmed
09:11after his Oscar-nominated Radha Minna Magan Abu,
09:14Madhu Ambad sir, one of the finest master cinematographer,
09:19him and then Rasool Pukutty
09:20and you know, it was a big team.
09:22So working with them was the learning.
09:24The best part is that they were planning
09:26to cast Vidya Balan in this film
09:28and I myself on my show said that
09:30Salim Ahmed's next movie with Mammootty
09:32is going to have Vidya Balan in it.
09:35So they had issues because Vidya Balan
09:37could not obviously do that movie in sync sound
09:39because she was not, Malayalam was a problem.
09:41That's when they wanted someone, a new face
09:43who could speak Malayalam
09:44and Mamooka said, there's this RJ in Dubai,
09:46why don't you try her?
09:47And Salim Ahmed said, yes, I remember.
09:49She had interviewed me.
09:50Okay, let's try her and that's how it came to be.
09:52I can't imagine relocating and, you know,
09:55living in Kerala for that matter.
09:57I can't like, I'm so used to being in the city
10:00and I love the city.
10:02I don't know, everything I am, thanks to Dubai.
10:05Seriously, I would tell everybody,
10:06you guys should come to Dubai and live in Dubaia.
10:08You guys should come to Dubai and eat Kerala food.
10:11Seriously.
10:12For the rest of the interview, go read us on Gulf News.
10:15Exactly.