In this interview, actor-producer Meenakshi Jayan reflects on how her debut film Victoria, which won awards at Shanghai and New York festivals, transformed her sense of possibility. She describes her immersive preparation in an Angamaly beauty parlour, her theatre-rooted acting philosophy, and how global recognition reshaped her ambitions while she continues building sustainable, respectful indie productions and creative communities.
In June 2025, Meenakshi Jayan stood on a stage in Shanghai, on her first international trip, winning an award, her first international award, for her first film, Victoria, and the only words she can find to aptly describe the experience are “brain chemistry altering.” Not metaphorically, rather quite literally.
"From that moment onwards, I could actually visualise myself in bigger rooms and bigger conversations and bigger stages," she says. "Not because someone told me I belonged there. But I could feel it."
More recently last week, she won Best Actress at the New York Indian Film Festival — three years after it was shot. But the late rise of the Malayalam-language film has not dimmed the glow. If anything, it has given Meenakshi the time to build more projects and work on more opportunities.
She runs a creative community called Friends With Queens; she has acted in a SonyLIV limited series that is currently in production, produced a short film, and is working on an indie feature film in which she is both lead actor and executive producer. She also reveals that she is set to sign a new Malayalam film with a director she’s excited to work with.
What shines through her work and demeanour most clearly, though, is an unwillingness to be categorised. She does not take herself too seriously. She posts Reels. She laughs a lot. She knows she can be Miranda Priestly and Elle Woods, whom she sees not as opposing poles, but as two ends of a spectrum she refuses to be confined to. "I want people to be comfortable seeing a woman like me thrive,” she says with confidence.
In a conversation with THR India, Meenakshi discussed the journey of Victoria, her story of going from theatre and dubbing to independent and soon mainstream cinema, the romanticisation of artistic struggle, building sustainable productions, and how she is trying to redefine what both a woman, and a serious actor can do.
You spent a month working at a beauty parlour in Angamaly to prepare for Victoria. What was that like?
I would reach there before opening time. I would lift the shutters with them, we would eat lunch together, I talked to the customers. I learned everything: threading, waxing, hairdressing. A large part of the film takes place inside a beauty parlour, and the story is basically one day with Victoria, so every activity she does in the film, I did in that parlour with them. I needed to have the skill of a beautician with two years of experience, not someone doing it for the first time. That speed, those movements — that's what the preparation was actually about.
There's a school of acting that says a good actor should vanish completely into the role. But you've spoken about coming from a theatre background, where the philosophy is different.
Theatre taught me that you should never hide yourself behind the character — you reveal yourself through the character. I will never try to erase Meenakshi and replace her with someone else. I don't think that's even possible. So I looked for what Victoria and Meenakshi have in common, and build from there. The preparation is not about becoming a different person. It's about finding those little details that make the character feel real — and real from the inside, not performed on the surface.
Did you ever expect that your debut film would gain so much reach and adoration?
I did not. I never expected that to happen. For me, it was my debut film — I just wanted to see myself on the big screen, and that was it.
I got to take my first-ever flight for Victoria. My first international trip was to Shanghai for the Shanghai International Film Festival. Everything else was just magic. I still can't believe all of that happened. I'm still processing it. Shooting Victoria in itself was the win for me. Everything else was a bonus.
What did the accolades that Victoria received mean to you, beyond the obvious?
I had always been ambitious; I had visualised success. But I could only imagine small victories — some progress here, some recognition there. I could never visualise a global stage.
When I stood there and experienced it, something shifted. After that, I could picture myself in bigger rooms. Not because anyone gave me permission, but because I had felt what it was like to actually be there.
Once you experience something like that, your imagination can never shrink back to what it was before.
You're now a few projects in — a Sony LIV series that is currently in post-production, a short film you've produced, and an ongoing indie feature in which you're the executive producer and the lead actor. How has your relationship with filmmaking changed since your debut?
I used to romanticise the struggle. Sacrificing everything for art, working endless hours with no money — I thought that was noble. But I've lived close enough to the reality now to know that filmmaking needs to be sustainable. Financial stress affects people emotionally. It damages professional relationships. It eventually damages the work.
A lot of exploitation happens under the name of art, framing it as if it's something noble. I don't think that anymore. I want to build productions where people are respected for their contribution and paid fairly.
What is the process of producing and acting in an indie feature like?
I haven't been able to pay everyone right now since it is a crowdfunded project. But once we sell the film, once the project goes somewhere, I will make sure everyone gets what the film's success brings.
I want to build a production that works that way. That's what I'm trying to do, even if I'm a very small producer and it's still a work in progress.
Let's talk about your community, Friends With Queens. How did it start?
Meenakshi Jayan: I just wanted to build a community where creatives could come together and support each other's work. There's a real need for that kind of space, especially for women who are building things. It started quite small, and it's grown from there.
You're running this community, acting, producing and maintaining an active social media presence. Is that balance actually manageable?
Meenakshi Jayan: It can be a little hectic, yes. But I like it. My social media is an extension of who I am, and I'm intentional about what I put out, but it doesn't feel separate from my life. It feels like part of it. I think it's important to have fun, because a lot of people tell me that if you're a serious actor, you have to be off social media. Who made these rules? I don't take myself so seriously.
What is it about these unwritten rules that bothers you?
People want to put you in boxes. There's this idea that every successful woman has to be this inaccessible queen, some Miranda Priestly figure. But I want people to be comfortable seeing a woman like me. Someone who is funny and sassy and always smiling, and who is also building communities, producing projects, running a business and doing big things. I want people to understand that this is possible. That successful women can also look like Elle Woods from Legally Blonde. Because women can be anything they want to be.
On the acting side, what kind of character do you want to play next?
I've always been drawn to action films. I want to see myself fight, move differently and be challenged physically.
Every character I play tends to influence me in some way — parts of them stay inside me for a while. So if I play a character who is much stronger physically than I am right now, I feel like it might make me healthier too.