On the sets of director Aji John’s second movie venture ‘Namukku Parkkan’, we met Meghna Raj who swept many young hearts off their feet as she demurely floated onto the screen in the December 2011  movie ‘Beautiful’, drenched in rain drops and carrying oodles of freshness which the camera caught merrily for the viewers. But sitting in front of us, she is another character altogether. A far cry from the seductress that Meghna performed so convincingly in ‘Beautiful’. Here this very young and bubbly artist is getting transformed into a mother of two kids struggling with her husband to make their dream of having a home of their own a reality.

Meghna Raj

Meghna is totally at ease. But not fully, “My fear is whether the director would scold me. But Aji John is an extremely cool person who knows his craft. And he says what he wants and lets the artist do the job. I am totally comfortable here.” And she has her own way of dealing with the very mature character she is playing. “I do not have to strain to perform as a mother of two. Even in a normal circumstance when you are with people younger to you, you normally feel older and mature. The same works for me here.” No doubt Meghna, a Bangalorean who entered the world of Cinema in 2009 with the Telungu ‘Bendu Apparao RMP’ knows exactly what she is doing.


Director Vinayan was actually looking for a face to play a ‘divine looking ghost’ in Yakshiyum Njanum’ in 2010, found the face in a magazine and zoomed in on Meghna. And she totally enjoyed acting it out.  "I cried on the last day of the shooting.” And the incident on the sets where as she was dancing on a raised platform with water all around and there was a loud scream followed by most of the crew around getting electrocuted and running for their lives while she herself stood safe but scared was for Mehghna as spooky as the ghost that she played. Then came Meghna’s stint in a few Malayalam movies till ‘Beautiful’ came her way, where she played ‘Anjali’ with elan.

Meghna’s transformation, from a Christ College campus biology freak looking forward to become a doctor, who hardly bothered about her appearance to this very elegant lady who shed her kilos to keep herself fit, has definitely not changed her as a person. “I am extremely friendly but I do not open up till I am comfortable with people. I am myself, as always. I step out when I want to. For me what is important is being true to myself more than anything else.” Reading is her passion that takes her into another world. So is dance.” As I was in the NCC, I even wanted to join the Army but as their only child, my parents were not happy with the idea.”

With two of her Tamil movies, ‘Kalla Sirippazhaga’ and ‘Nandha Nandhita’ waiting to be released and ‘Mullamottum Munthiricharum’ and another movie directed by Anjali Varma in Malayalam also on the list, this talented youngster looks all set to fly. “But my first experience in front of the camera was a great lesson. I was over confident and fell down as I was dancing for the shot. Then I knew that this is not a joke.” But more lessons were to come. Though Meghna says,  “Extremely realistic movies are not of my liking,” the lessons in performing that she picked up from her colleagues in Malayalam cinema are held valuable by her.