Nimisha Sajayan: The new normal? Part 1

 

 After the grand success of the web series 'Poacher', in which Nimisha Sajayan plays a lead role, the girl have caught the imagination of the nation. Seemingly opposite to the traditional wisdom about feminine beauty; lean, short, fair and fragile; Nimisha, nonetheless was well received by the audience. The question on our mind is whether this is the new normal or was this the norm?

 Before entering into that, let us peak into the brief biography of our protagonist Ms. Nimisha Sajayan. Her family hails from Kerala, India. But she was born and brought up in Mumbai, India. She also holds a degree in mass communication.

 She holds fame as a round faced, dusky and beautiful actress who made a name for herself, starting from the Malayalam film industry. She is known for the strong female characters she played. Like the lead in the movie "The Great Indian Kitchen", "Thondimuthalum Dhriksakshiyum", "Malik" etc.

 Few will argue with the fact that she would qualify as a typical 'mallu girl' even though her background says other ways. She is also infamous for refusing to use make up in public. Giving her off screen and on screen persona power and a touch of reality. In a famous interview of her, an old school heroine was seen trying to persuade Ms. Sajayan to wear more make up! How did she manage such a feat?

 Common sense wisdom suggests that movie stars should be beautiful in a conservative sense, more than anything else. It is quite common to attribute most of the success of actors to their beauty. But this does not stand the scrutiny based on facts. For instance, Former Ms. world winner Manushi Chhillar and many like her; they have all broken into Bollywood but very few have stayed. When you look at the numbers people like Aswarya Rai and Priyanka Chopra are the exception rather than the norm. In fact everyone who have enjoyed the stay was much more than just a beauty. In addition to that, they had other skills they readily expanded.

  Even them would kill for a stature enjoyed by Ms. Sajayan. Many actresses like Alia Bhatt have openly admitted similar sentiments. So what is that X-factor all of them seemingly lack, but Nimisha have?

Perhaps it is time to consult expert opinion rather than common sense wisdom. In "Natya Sastra" Sage Bharata insists a protagonist should be good, brave, and a protector. It is important to remember this is the criteria, in it's entirety, just brave will not cut it.