She may be hearing and speech impaired, but that’s never stopped Abhinaya from pursuing her love for acting. And with her grit and determination she has ensured that her disabilities never come in the way of her big dreams. One of those dreams was to act with the late Dhruv Sharma, who himself was similarly impaired. This dream came true when she starred opposite him in Kicchu. With the film ready for release this week, we caught up with the actor.
“I personally miss Dhruv, who left us too early. We were friends for the last fifteen years. I still can’t believe, he is no more. It is always an emotional moment, every time I remember him,” says the actor who made her Kannada debut with Hudugaru.
Abhinaya fondly recalls sharing screen space with the actor who was more of a dear friend. She plays the role of Nandini, wife of Dhruv, an activist. “Since both of us had a passion for acting, we were planning on working together for a long time. Luckily, director Pradeep Raj came up with a subject that both of us could associate with. I enjoyed every minute of shooting for the film. The working environment was great,” she says. In the same film, she also shares screen space with Ragini and Sudeep. The latter features in a guest appearance as a doctor.
Give Abhinaya a challenge and she’s always up to it. Which is why she takes up different kinds of roles and characters. She admits that she is “as a good as a foreigner,” because the only language she knows is English. “Thanks to my mother, I am able to manage work in different languages. She helps me by explaining the meaning of each and every dialogue which I mug up,” says Abhinaya, who comes across as very confident. She believes it is her hard work that has fetched her opportunities.
Abhinaya has a few actors whom she considers her inspirations. “I love Aishwarya and Trisha’s acting. I’m fond of Sridevi, too,” she says.
The Kicchu actor is also looking forward to her English film, One Little Finger, directed by an NRI Roopam Sharma. The feature film will soon be doing the rounds at film festivals. In the musical, Abhinaya will be acting with 45 special children. In addition, the actor is also busy completing two Tamil projects. “I have two more projects in Tamil, which will kickstart anytime soon,” says the actor who has done 38 films so far.
Even though her plate is full, Abhinaya is still open to signing on more. And she's hoping a period or history film comes her way. “I’d like to associate with films like Baahubali,” she signs off.