Director goes ga-ga over Nadia Moidu

Veteran Malayalam film director Thulasidas says the new generation film actresses and those intending to don the greasepaint should learn professionalism from popular actress Nadia Moidu.

Moidu, 49, became a well-known actress in film-loving Kerala ever since her debut film "Noketha Dhoorethu Kannum Nattu" in 1984 turned out to be one of the biggest blockbusters back then.

After quitting the film industry following her marriage in 1994, she returned to the Malayalam film industry after a gap of 17 years in 2011 and has again caught the attention of all.

"Believe me, she is a complete professional. Her commitment and the way she behaves on the sets is a lesson for all. The new generation actresses should emulate her qualities," said Thulasidas.

He has just helmed his 34th film "Girls", which has all the ingredients to make it a happy viewing.

In a chat with IANS, the veteran director was all praise for Moidu as in his latest film features only women.

"After shooting for 46 days for my new film, I will easily say that to handle 100 male actors is easier than handling 10 women actresses. While Moidu was grace personified on the sets, it was tough handling the other women as they were always complaining about one thing or the other," added Thulasidas.

The new bilingual film, shot simultaneously in Malayalam and Tamil, is slated for release soon. It tells the tale of a group of girls students in a film school and what happens when they decide to make their own film.

While Moidu plays the central character in the film, popular South Indian actresses Inya, Eden, Archana, Reshma, Neena Kurup and others make up the rest of the only-women film's cast.

"While I was doing the casting of the film, I spoke to quite a few new-generation actresses in Malayalam industry and after hearing the full story from me, the first question most of them asked was, 'Who is the lead male actor?'. I was a bit taken aback by this question because they did not understand that it's a women-only film and hence I had to bring in actresses from Tamil and Telugu film industries," added the veteran filmmaker.

The film will be released in Malayalam and Tamil on the same day.