In a very casual talk, Asha Sarath, a family friend of hers, asked Swathy Narayanan if she was interested in acting, to which she responded: ‘If it’s a good role with a good team, yes.’ However, never in her wildest dreams did Swathy expect to land in a lead role in a Ranjith Shankar film.

“Even though I’m settled in Thrissur now, I was born and brought up in Perumbavoor. I had been learning dance from a very young age and so I knew Asha chechi and her family well. Since Asha chechi had worked with Ranjith sir in Varsham, he asked her if she knew any new faces he can cast for Su Su Sudhi Vathmeekam”.

“She told me to forward my photographs if I’m interested and I ended up getting selected to play the part. There are two heroines in Su Su Sudhi... — Me and Sshivada. My character, Sheila, was born and brought up in Mumbai. But when her mother passes away, her father takes her back to her hometown to look for marriage proposals. This is where she meets Jayettan’s character. Though my character is a Mumbai product, she is someone who appreciates all traditional things,” explains Swathy.

Though this is Swathy’s debut in a lead role, she has earlier appeared on screen as a child artiste in Vasanthiyum Lakshmiyum Pinne Njanum. “I had a very small role in that movie. I portrayed the childhood of Kaveri in a song sequence. Apart from that, I had acted in some ad shoots from the time I was in my pre-school to Class III. After that, my focus was on Kuchipudi. I learned Kuchipudi under Anupama Mohan at Kochi for 16 years and I am pursuing my diploma degree in Kuchipudi now. I’m also training under Chintha Ravi Balakrishna at Kuchipudi Village in Vijayawada. For me, dance is my passion and I hope to get a doctorate in Kuchipudi someday,” explains the actress.

Though it might take the newbie some time to get her doctorate in dance, she already owns the title of doctor. “I am an Ayurveda doctor and I finished my studies this year. I have been training at a hospital near my home for some time now, after completing my internship. Since my primary focus is on dance, I don’t think I will be able to work in a hospital setting as I would have to attend many programmes regularly. I also want to do more films if I get good offers. So, I’m planning to start independent practice once I gain a little experience as a trainee and then balance my acting, dancing and medicine careers, all together!