Actor Gayathiri Iyer, known for her versatility and juggling several film industries, is busier than a bee at the moment with a couple of films in her kitty. She, who proved her worth in films like Raid (alongside Ajay Devgn), Ghost, Six and the popular serial Naagin, has worked across several languages — Telugu, Tamil, Kannada, Hindi, English and Bengali! Ahead of her next big project, she speaks her heart out to CE about the importance of taking good breaks.
Acting wasn’t her plan A or even B, for that matter. She shares, “Things just happened organically. I was a studious kid and wasn’t interested in showbiz. However, I got selected to be part of my college’s fashion show, where I received an offer to work for a couple of ads where I got to test the waters with acting and that’s how I figured I loved being in front of a camera and realised I wanted to do this for life, for a living.”
For Gayathiri, fitness is one of the best ways to stay fit — physically and mentally. Sharing how she likes to keep it interesting, she says, “I get bored very easily. So, if I’m gymming for a month, I make the shift to Taekwondo. Because gymming can feel mundane to me, I try out other forms of physical activities including Tennis and dancing.”
The actor takes her ‘me-time’ very seriously. “My dog takes up a big portion of my personal time. He hardly gets time with me when I am shooting, so I ensure to make up for it. I play with him or end up grooming him. When I get a little more time, I step out for my dance class and catch up with friends, because I hardly get to do that. If I’m home and get to wake up late, I indulge in an elaborate meal - I’m a thorough foodie. I barely get to relish food the way I want to, when I’m busy,” she tells CE.
Travelling solo helps Gayathiri calm those tense nerves. “I love travelling, and I prefer to go solo. Before the pandemic, I always travelled to ring in my birthdays, but that slowed down a bit post the Covid scare —I visited places closer home like Leh and Ladakh. Now that things are crawling back to normalcy, I hope to visit Norway as I have been longing to witness the Northern Lights. Norway and Georgia are the top places on my bucket list,” says she.
Being in the entertainment business, Gayathiri knows how to relax the right way - watching quality content. Her tastes are varied, she says, “I am a South Indian and follow a lot of languages. My palate, concerning movies, is quite huge. I follow Malayalam cinema for its quality work, I’m also a huge fan of Tamil cinema and have a lot of Hindi favourites - not just cinema but web series too. I heard great things about Jamtara and can’t wait to binge-watch it. I enjoy watching Hindi heartland stories where they show real and raw stories from villages and things happening around them. I love Gullak, Panchayat and Jamtara as they give a very natural portrayal of how things work up north.” The actor will soon be seen in an Abas Mastan fiilm Penthouse, where she is paired with Arjun Rampal.