Like a wild flower she is gentle, free spirited and loves to get swayed by the wind, Rima takes life as it comes. With her untamed beauty, turbulent locks and bewitching smile, she is an absolute charmer in front of the camera. The lady wears equal amount of attitude and confidence to bedazzle, as we quiz her.  Assertive, frank, and never afraid to follow her heart, she talks about the relationships that molded her personality – including the love that anchors her… and when she  talks all we want to do is simply listen because the lady has a bold take on most of the things around. Here’s a transcript of our conversation punctuated with lots of giggles…

We call Africa ‘The Dark Continent’, but for you how was the experience exploring Uganda – the culture, traditions, food and its scenic beauty?
Yes, there is a reason because of which we call Africa ‘The Dark Continent’, if we look at their infrastructure or trace back their history; we know that it is truly a dark place to be in, but in spite of that I found the people in Uganda to be so happy and content with their life. We usually have a different picture about Uganda but when I visited the place I was simply mesmerized with the scenic beauty. The place was a total contrary to what I had imagined it to be. I personally feel compared to them we Indians live in the lap of luxury, we live in a democratic country we have our say in every matter yet we fret about little things.

Of the 56 locations you shot for ‘Escape from Uganda’ one place you want to revisit?
Well, there are two places in Uganda that I would always remember the rest of my life, one was lake Victoria that we saw as we drove out of the airport, it’s the second largest fresh water lake in the world, the lake is so huge that it resembles a sea and the first sight of it blew my mind. The second one has to be Jinja, this is where the last one week of our shoot was held and it’s believed that river Nile originates from Jinja, so the place has a lot of historical and cultural significance and it’s a beautiful hill station with the most amazing weather.

How challenging was it to perform an action role for the first time?
I wouldn’t say that it was all highly stylized action sequences; those were all very normal antics that any woman would do when she is caught up in a difficult situation to protect herself, so nothing was like too choreographed, but yes there were some scenes that demanded a lot of physical effort and were very taxing because the story revolves around a prison break so there was a lot of running around and chasing so it was tiresome at times, but the crew was so supportive that we were all in great spirits always. I totally enjoyed shooting for ‘Escape from Uganda’.

How comfortable were you acting with Vijay Babu?
Vijay is a great pal, I have known him for a long time and being in the industry for four years my priority was to make Vijay comfortable because our chemistry was really important throughout the movie.

How was your experience working in an all women oriented movie like ‘Zachariayude Garbhinikal’?
I didn’t have too many combination screens with other actresses in this movie but yes working with Sandra who also happens to be the producer of the movie was very special and apart from that I feel actresses including me are very lucky that we are in a space where so many roles and scripts are written for us, I think it happened in the 80s and 90s and after a dry spell Mollywood is back with scripts giving prominence to women and I am very happy about that.

Toughest part of being a bold actress…..
Toughest part of being a bold actress is that people forget that we too are humans and we have a softer side to our personality. But as far as I am concerned I am ok being considered a bold and arrogant actress rather than taken for granted.

You and anchor turned actress Renjini Haridas are great pals. What bonds both of you?
I respect Renjini for the kind of person she is…Renjini is someone who lives her life in her own terms and is successful. I have seen her hosting an event in Sharjah, taking control of over 40,000 crowd single handedly, I am sure not many can master that and if she is doing that hats off to her…ever since she has stepped into the industry she has been ridiculed for her accent to clothes but that has not dampen her. I feel the only one thing that irks people here is the fact that she is a successful woman.

LOVE BYTES WITH REEMA AND AASHIQ

Three things you love about Aashiq as a human being….
I love the fact that Aashiq is a man with a lot of conviction; the second thing I love about him is his family. His mother is the boldest woman I have come across and his sisters are simply adorable. And Aashiq’s ability to love and respect me is an extension of his family values. The way he understands me, the freedom he gives me to explore myself it comes from his family.

The one quality that you dislike in Aashiq…
I don’t really hate anything about him; actually we both are a world of extremes and we do have our own silly arguments at times but that’s pretty much about it.

What is it on that Rima and Aashiq disagree most of the time?
Like I told you before we both are entirely different from each other but our values and principles in life are similar but we differ in tastes, on the bigger issues of life as such we agree most of the times.

Your next holiday together would be to…
We both have been longing to visit Pushkar mela in Rajasthan for a long time but because of our professional commitments we were postponing our holiday, but this time we are going to make it.

Is he an insecure lover?
No…Aashiq is a super confident human being, he is very confident and comfortable about himself, so there is no question of he being insecure.

If not for his movie, does he pay you surprise visits during filming?
No, he doesn’t come to my movie sets because it belongs to some other director or production house and that can be a distraction for them. But I do visit him on his sets because he is the one who calls the shots there.

 Shoot with FWD?
I think this is the second time I am shooting with Subhash. And he is wonderful photographer and I am sure he will bring out the best in me. Let’s see how it comes out.
O n FWD Life?

There is a right kind of energy about this magazine; I think the FWD team has a clear vision on what they want to convey to their readers. And I love the fact that they put in so much effort for each shoot and article they publish.