Film industry is not for the weak hearted: Regina Cassandra
Regina Cassandra is a familiar name in Tollywood, Kollywood, and Sandalwood. Now, having forayed into OTT platforms and Bollywood, Regina, who was recently on a detox trip in Coimbatore, spoke to us about juggling industries and the stereotypes she’s had to face and break as a woman. She was last seen on the Hindi OTT show Frazi. Read on:
‘I’ve been raised by my single mother’
The industry is not an easy place for the weak, and it takes courage and will to survive. “I started in 2011. And that’s when I also decided to take a break from academies, where I had been getting opportunities. Well, let me try these opportunities out. So alien to the field and so alien to being a celebrity or an actor. It wasn’t something I wanted to do, so I never looked at or observed what other actresses were doing. I never dreamed of it. I came with that mindset. I’ve been raised by my single mother, so I am a very independent female, and I’m the only kid at home—the only girl child—so my upbringing itself has been very ‘fend for yourself’ kind,” explains Regina.
‘There has been evolution since my debut’
From her first film to now, Regina speaks about how not just her mind but the industry has evolved in some ways. “Earlier, we were called actresses, and then we were called just actors, as it has no gender. I’m so used to saying actress, but it doesn’t matter. At the end of the day, I have seen an evolution from then to now. Also, even my mindset has evolved; you know, back then, when I was acting predominantly in Telugu films, there were a lot of stereotypes I had to break, which is very interesting for a woman.
‘Male actors asked me about my shelf life’
Regina’s journey of over a decade before the camera has been nothing but ordinary. “It’s very interesting to see how the media would never miss an opportunity, especially the men, to ask me, “Oh, what do you think about the shelf life of your 25 years as an actress?” and these questions were not so long ago. People have also said that if an actress is married, she can’t work, or if she’s had two back-to-back flops, she can’t work. The only way that I could ever have a rebuttal was to say that it will take time, but it’s my life, and many actresses have, since then, shown that it is possible to continue acting.”
‘Actresses juggle industries; actors don’t’
Having done movies in different languages, Regina says, “It’s very interesting having juggled all these industries because every time I would go back to do a Tamil film, it would be after two years and they’d be like, ‘Regina has come back’ and when I’d go do a Telugu film, they’d say, “Oh, we missed you.” What’s interesting as a woman is that we see all these actresses mostly going from industry to industry to work in movies, but you don’t see heroes doing that. You mostly see actresses playing leads in Tamil, Telugu, or Hindi. I’m not saying actors don’t do it, but they don’t do it as much as actresses do. A heroine is now doing 4-5 films in different languages, but that’s not the case with the actors.”
‘OTT and films are the same, yet so different’
Speaking of balance between OTT and films Regina says, “For me, it has always been this way. I don’t really dive into these things, and life is really simple. I am grateful that I have work and for the people who believe in the things that I do. I’m working on a series now; a lot more people watch OTT than they watch films, and everything, including your films, comes on OTT. I can’t compare them to TV serials, but after my role in Farzi, people reached out to me! Yeah, it was interesting, because a lot of people are watching it for the first time, obviously, and then they see me, and then I get a message, and the number of people who message me saying that they saw me in the series is crazy. Shows are reaching out to a wider audience, while films still have a stigma, whether they’re good or bad.
‘Dancing was a way to let off steam’
Having trained professionally in Bharatnatyam, Regina was always a fan of the art form. “I really like dancing. I think expressing myself through dance has been very important for me. I’ve always danced. In fact, when I was younger, the only way I knew to let off steam was to dance, and I didn’t know that that was what I was doing. I would just resort to dancing, but growing older is when you understand things that you did and why you did them,” she signs off.
