'You will find a different Rima in City of God'

Actress Rima Kallingal can look both traditional and trendy. After films like Rithu, Neelathamara, Happy Husbands and Kerala Cafe, she has carved a niche for herself among the hottest young faces in Malayalam cinema.

Now, with Lijo Jose Pellissery's City of God, she explores a new shade of hers. After that, Rima will be seen in Tamil film Yuvan Yuvathi, with Bharath.

Here is an exclusive chat with the beautiful actor.

You play one of the main characters in City of God, with Prithviraj, Indrajith, Swetha Menon and Parvathy. What is your role in the film?

You will find a different Rima in City of God. She is an actress with a dark past. Even though she acts happy most of the time, there is gloom for her as well.

It is a subtle character and I loved exploring that, especially since as I'm just the opposite in real life, talking all the time (laughs).

My character goes through a lot of mental torture and it was fantastic doing the role. There is no mandatory comedy track in this film. It has been shot with a hand held camera and looks fabulous.

What is your character like in award-winning director T V Chandran's comedy Sankaranum Mohananum?

I play a failed television actress, who is desperate to make it big in her career. Even in her personal front, she goes through a rough phase, as she has been estranged from her husband.

How excited are you about the Tamil film Yuvan Yuvathi, with Bharath?

Yuvan Yuvathi has all the commercial elements in it. I think it's a perfect launch pad for me in Tamil. It is not a four song-four scene role, it is our journey together. The character looks very different in the film's second half. In the early stages, she is a lovely girl. Then certain things happen after an incident. It is about how it changes our lives.

How tough was it matching steps with a talented dancer like Bharath?

Bharath is a great dancer and it was really tough to match steps with him while shooting for the song sequences. Of course, I am a trained dancer as well but I am mainly into classical dance. So when I have to do real fast steps, I had to tell him to slow down.

Bharath and the whole crew were awesome. The only thing that I regret was that I couldn't dub for the movie. They wanted a peculiar Tamil slang for this one. But I would definitely like to dub for my movies in future.

In the Malayalam film Orkut Oru Ormakoottu, a few teenage boys are doing the lead roles with you. Did you enjoy the experience shooting with a fresh cast?

I had a blast working with such a young cast. Besides the fresh faces in front of the camera, even the crew members were very young and the energy level was electrifying. I have done modern characters before and the directors (Manoj and Vinod) gave me freedom to do something different and experiment.

What is your character like in Orkut Oru Ormakkoottu?

She is an Indian girl from Germany. The culture and setting has an influence on my character.

I am in Kerala in search of certain facts that always haunted me during my childhood. It is a journey where I am searching for something that I really wanted to know from a very young age. In between I find these four young boys via Orkut and we forge a friendship. They help me out and become a part of my journey as well.

In the process, they discover several aspects about themselves and also about relationships and family bonding.

What are your forthcoming projects in Malayalam?

I am shooting for Joshiy's Sevens in Kozhikode. There's also Sidharth Bharathan's Suhruthu and M Padmakumar's Pathiramanal.