Isha Koppikar
Isha Koppikar’s career took off after she won the Miss Talent crown at the 1995 Miss India contest. It helped her bag two roles in the Tamil films Kaadhal Kavidai and En Swasa Katre, both released in 1998. After a hiatus of 18 years, she is making her comeback in Tamil cinema with director R. Ravi Kumar’s upcoming sci-fi film, SK 14. She was also seen recently in the web shows Lovely Da Dhaba and Fixerr.
You have been out of the public eye for a long time now.
As an actor, I love to experiment and play different characters. Every mode of entertainment is unique. With web shows, I feel it is amazing to reach out to audiences [watching the show] in the comfort of their homes. Also, the reaction time is instant.
You are making a comeback in Tamil cinema after a gap of 18 years.
They thought I looked the same and so wanted their star back in action.
Tell us about Lovely Da Dhaba.
I play a martyr’s widow in it, who takes forward her late husband’s tradition of service through her dhaba. The character is colourful, almost like a female Munnabhai. She helps solve problems of the different kinds of people who come to the dhaba—drug addicts, a couple who ran away from their homes, an estranged brother.... I have not done anything like this before.
What about the Alt Balaji series, Fixerr?
In Fixerr, I play Jayanti Javadekar, a police officer who lives with her husband in Mumbai. This is the second time I am playing a cop in an Alt Balaji production, after Kyaa Kool Hai Hum. It is quite an interesting and important character.
How has Tamil cinema changed in the nearly two decades you were away?
What has not changed is that they still have not understood that women are as equally powerful as men. The world is taking note of this and making women-centric films. Tollywood needs to be a little more aware about this. [Other than that], after all these years, I was welcomed as warmly as I was when I first joined Tollywood.