'I still have a long way to go in this industry'

Nimika Ratnakar, a model-turned-actor from Mangaluru, with an engineering background, made her debut in tinsel town with Rama Dhanya (2018), starring Yashas Surya. The actor is glad that after a long wait, her films are finally hitting the theatres.  

Nimika has four films getting ready for release, and the first in that list, Abbara, co-starring Prajwal Devaraj, Leka, and Rajshri Ponnappa will be hitting the theatres this Friday. She is looking forward to the release of Mr. Bachelor, and Trishulam, among others.

The actor shares that apart from academics, she also had a stint on stage, but was never an actor, which has now become her bread and butter. “I wanted to become a IAS officer or take singing as a profession. I have also been an orator and a dancer. However, I thought acting was my calling, and this is where I meant to be,” shares Nimika.

Abbara, directed by Ram Narayan, has Nimika playing the role of an NRI. The actor shares that the best part of the role is holding a gun to the famous villain Ravi Shankar in the film. “I’m sharing screen space with Prajwal for the first time and enjoyed shooting for this particular episode with Ravi Shankar. We also shot a song in Thailand, which was fun,” she says.

While Nimika is four years old in the film industry, she has taken time to establish herself here, and the actor feels she does have a long way to go. “I have taken projects the way they have come, and chosen what excited me, and roles that gave me space to perform. However, the pandemic delayed my career growth, and at that point, I even wondered whether I had made the right decision to come to the film industry. However, I’m glad to have a few good films, which are slated to release one after the other, and I cross my fingers that one of these films will give me that good break,” she says.