With the votes received online on www.itimes.com/polls along with our vote, Nayanthara has been chosen as the Chennai Times Most Desirable Woman of 2015. Always a challenge to catch this elusive looker for a chat, but we did!
How does it feel to be chosen as Chennai Times Most Desirable Woman of 2015?
I feel happy to be the chosen one. It's a good feeling; it's overwhelming, in fact.
What, according to you, are the key attributes of desirability?
I think one should have a very high degree of self-confidence. The way you project yourself is the way people are going to be looking at you. You have to have the right kind of attitude.
You are in your 12th year in Tamil cinema. How does it feel to be considered most desirable even after a decade?
I am a person who never gives up on anything. I can never give up on life. When it comes to my movies, I believe in working very hard. The reason I've been around for 12 years is because of my faith and belief in myself, and the hard work I put in for each and every film of mine. Of course, it's important to be physically presentable, and to have a fair amount of luck, but, for me, it has mainly been about hard work and dedication to my craft.
But you play so hard to get...
I have seen exhilarating highs and depressing lows in my career. There have been stupendous hits and terrible flops. I have learnt my lessons the hard way. After my so-called comeback, I have been very careful about choosing scripts. I treat every film of mine as my first film and approach it that way. When people appreciate my films, it motivates me to take my performance a notch higher. It's all about work now. There was a time I used to give interviews and was very accessible to whoever it is that reached out to me. When the going is good, people fete your achievements. But it was during my low phases that I got kicked very hard. I realised that the person some people pretend to be — they bear no resemblance to what they actually are in real life. I have decided that I will no longer issue clarifications, give explanations to newspapers or websites. I am, by nature, very aloof and an intensely private person, and I like it that way. My personal life is not for mass consumption.
Your sex appeal lies in...
I am clearly uncomfortable talking about. This is, anyway, not something for me to say. Maybe others have an opinion on it.
What makes a man desirable?
For me, there's nothing that I rate above honesty. An honest man is a desirable man. Honest men are such a rare species these days. It takes a lot for a man to be honest and upfront.
Most desirable man...
George Clooney!
And the sexiest woman?
Audrey Hepburn.
You are doing a movie with Chiranjeevi...
OK, here it is. I am not doing any film with Chiranjeevi. Till date, no one has approached me for doing this film. I know there are stories alleging that I had asked for a whopping amount for this movie. But there's absolutely no truth to it. No one asked me if I was indeed doing it. People write what they want.
...And the film with Sivakarthikeyan?
Yes, that's happening. That should take off by August. Right now there's Iru Mugan with Vikram, Kashmora with Karthi, and Babu Bangaram in Telugu.
