'Parents are the worst critics'

Actress Meghana Raj literally grew up on the sets. Her parents — Sundar Raj and Pramila Joshai — have both been popular actors for decades. But as a child, Meghana was sure she didn’t want to be an actress in spite of many people telling her that she would become an actress someday and that it was inevitable.

  
Before Meghana could realise, she started getting offers to act when she was barely 15. Meghana though took her time and has no regrets entering the film industry. She says that she has learnt some of life’s best lessons from the film industry. And her parents have always been there for her.

“Parents are the worst critics. It is very tough to satisfy them. But all said and done, their feedback has strengthened my work,” says Meghana.  Meghana is just as popular in the Malayalam film industry as she in Kannada. She forayed into Malayalam with Yakshiyum Njanum and was appreciated for her remarkable performance.

“They were looking for a fresh face and I didn’t know a word of Malayalam but I must say that I was almost instantly accepted into the industry. It is because of the warm acceptance that I now speak fluent Malayalam,” she says.

She did exceptionally well in Kannada film Raja Huli and Meghana is perhaps the only actress in the Kannada film industry who has sung for her song in Bahuparak. “I am a total bathroom singer, so when I was offered a song in Bahuparak, I took it up as a challenge and I had a lot of people telling me that it came out well. I am still kicked that,” she confesses. Meghana is listening to a couple of scripts but hasn’t signed anything yet.  

Unlike a lot of actresses, Meghana is not obsessed with the size-zero factor. She recollects that there was a time when people called her ‘fat’. “There was a time when people called me fat . I never considered myself fat but I always thought I looked healthy,” she says. So one day, Meghana says that she decided to hit the gym. “My trainer and my friends were really surprised by my decision. I worked out so hard that I would fit into my sixth standard clothes that I’ve still preserved and I sure did,” she recalls.

She has found her best pals in actresses Ananya and Nazriya and in Kannada she holds high regards for Sudeep.