Veteran actor Urvashi has showered praise on Nazriya Nazim, calling her one of her favourite female actors and expressing regret that she is not more active in Malayalam cinema. Speaking in an interview with Saina South Plus, Urvashi said Nazriya had the potential to become a truly formidable presence in the industry had she continued to take on more roles. “Meera and Navya give very good performances. But if Nazriya had remained here consistently, she would have grown into a powerful actress. She can handle modern, traditional and smart characters with equal ease. Whether it was Om Shanti Oshana or Bangalore Days, it was always a pleasure to watch her. She has that rare charm. When she became less active, I did feel a bit disappointed,” Urvashi said.
Nazriya was last seen in Malayalam in the 2024 mystery thriller Sookshmadarshini, which earned appreciation for both the film and her performance. Before that, her previous Malayalam release was Trance in 2020. She is currently working on Muhsin Parari’s El Clasico, opposite Tovino Thomas, and also has Suriya 47 in her line-up. Additionally, she is also making her web series debut with the upcoming Tamil show The Madras Mystery: Fall of a Superstar, expected to stream later this year on SonyLIV.
Urvashi also spoke about her favourite male actor from the younger generation, naming Fahadh Faasil. She said she admires him for consistently choosing unconventional roles rather than chasing a stereotypical hero image. “I am very fond of Fahadh. If you look at the roles he has chosen from the start of his career, you can see that he has never selected characters just to show heroism. There is no attempt to project himself as a larger-than-life hero. He seems to say, ‘This is who I am. If the role is different, I am fine with it. I will do it to the best of my ability.’ That approach is very close to mine. That is why I like him so much,” she said.
Fahadh will next be seen as the antagonist opposite Mammootty and Mohanlal in Mahesh Narayanan’s ambitious multistarrer Patriot, an espionage thriller slated to hit theatres worldwide on April 23.