You don't have to burn your way through characters: Lenaa on slowing down after years of being a workaholic

For years, Lenaa's life was all about films. She was constantly moving from one set to another, sometimes doing as many as 12 to 14 films in a year. Acting took up almost all her time and energy, and she was happy to keep it that way. But over the past couple of years, things have changed. The actor has consciously chosen to slow down, be more selective about her films and make room for the many other interests and experiences that have become part of her life.

Lenaa, who plays an interesting role in 'Bouma', looks at her life as two distinct phases: before and after 2024. A lot changed that year. She became an author, got married, spent time in the US and began speaking more openly about mental health, women's health and spirituality. For someone who had spent nearly her entire adult life immersed in cinema, it was the beginning of a different chapter. "Till 2024, from 1998, I had only been an actress. And an out-and-out actress, meaning a workaholic. I wanted to be on a movie set every day of the year. The moment I finished shooting for one film, I was looking forward to getting onto the next set. I had nothing else to do in life. I was only an actress," she says.

Working at that pace for years, however, eventually began to take its toll. Having devoted so much of her life to acting, Lenaa felt the need to step away for a while and look at things differently. A sabbatical, during which she shaved her head and travelled to the Himalayas, turned out to be a defining experience. "Some years I had done 12 to 14 films, and I think it's a little too much for an actor to wear themselves out like that. Then this stint of shaving my hair off and going off to the Himalayas on a sabbatical happened. From there, I actually started telling myself, 'Take it slow. You don't have to burn your way through characters,'" she recalls.

That experience seems to have stayed with her. Today, she is more comfortable taking her time with projects rather than constantly moving from one film to the next. Marriage, writing and the other interests she has taken up have also changed the way she looks at work. "After writing the book and after marriage, it's a very conscious decision to be more selective and slow down and not do as many films continuously," she says.

That said, audiences are likely to see quite a bit of her on screen in the coming months. Several of her films have happened to line up for release around the same time, with back-to-back releases expected until January or February. Acting is no longer the only creative space Lenaa wants to explore. Writing, too, has become an important part of her journey. She co-wrote the Malayalam film ‘Olam,’ though the film's release did not quite go as she had hoped. Released soon after the Covid period, it faced several setbacks, including a lack of proper marketing. Lenaa says it was an unfortunate experience, particularly because the film had so much going against it. Nevertheless, she looks back on it as a valuable learning experience as a co-writer.

She has since written a script for a film she hopes to direct herself. The project has been waiting in the wings for nearly five years, but Lenaa isn't in a hurry to take it forward. She believes the story will find its time, especially since its subject is not tied to any particular period. In fact, she says the script has continued to improve with every passing year. Writing for films, she says, is quite different from writing books. Her books are non-fiction, largely in the self-help space, and are written in a straightforward style that reflects the way she speaks. Screenwriting, on the other hand, takes her into a completely different creative space.

"I never thought of myself as a writer. Writing happened very spontaneously, and it still does. It's pretty much like your brain and hands getting hijacked by creativity," she says. Spirituality is another subject Lenaa has been open about, often sharing her personal experiences and views on social media. Not all of them have found agreement, but she says she has no particular need to defend what she believes in or seek everyone's approval.

She sees social media as an extraordinary platform that allows people from different parts of the world to connect and exchange ideas instantly. But she also recognises that differences in opinion are inevitable, especially when people speak about something as personal as spirituality. "Anything we put out, we should be quite sure that at the least there would be a 50-50 opposition to agreement point. When it comes to spirituality, it is such a unique and individual experience that even if five per cent of people agree with you, that's huge," she says.

For Lenaa, sharing what she has learnt and experienced is part of being an artist. Whether through acting, writing or speaking about subjects close to her, she sees it as another way of putting something out into the world. Agreement or disagreement from others does not really change that.
Lenaa, meanwhile, prefers to keep her character in 'Bouma,' the mystery film which will hit theatres on November 12, under wraps.

With nearly 50 actors and a layered narrative, she believes ‘Bouma’ is aiming to offer audiences something beyond a conventional film experience. "It's not just storytelling. It's not like, 'Come, let's entertain you.' It's like, 'Come, let's give you an experience,'" she says, adding that the film is made for the big screen.