‘The Kerala Story’: A Kashmiri Pandit girl currently living in Delhi is part of the film “The Kerala Story” in which she appeared as ‘Husna’.
Eleena whose family originally hailed from Kokernag before migrating to Jammu.
She has also played the role of ‘Roohi’ in a short film titled ‘Idli Amma’ (2023) which is the biopic of M Kamalathal. Idli Amma, currently has entered the film festivals and she expects the film to win national award.
Eleena attended the Institute of Home Economics (Delhi University) in New Delhi and pursued a bachelor’s degree in journalism. She took acting lessons from The Indian School of Acting in Ghaziabad, Uttar Pradesh. She is pursuing the Masters in Journalism and Mass Communication (2021-2023) from Indira Gandhi National Open University (IGNOU).
Eleena said she always wanted to become an actor ever since she was only three years old and since then she started to follow her dream of becoming an actor.
“I wasn’t aware for long how to get into movies but when I came to Delhi in 2017, I got in touch with many known people associated with films and theatre who guided me on how to become an actor. It was my maternal grandfather’s dream to see me in the films. He would always make me watch great films from the golden age. Bollywood, Hollywood, world cinema- you name it. He was all about sophistication and class and tried to instil that in me,” she said.
She said that she was suggested to take classes as every profession needs proper training. “It took about two years for me to decide. Later I joined the acting school where I learned acting for one year,” she added.
Soon after completing her training, Eleena got a film titled “Idli Amma” where she worked with veteran actress Sarita Joshi and the film is going to be released soon.
Eleena said she later got many projects but she rejected them as she prefers to play the characters with great artistic merit and likes to be satisfied with her work rather than doing anything substandard or something she isn’t proud of.
“The Kerala Story is a serious film and I really felt and cried for this character (Husna) which I played. There are many women across the world who are in the similar situation as hers and their story needs to be told. They deserve to be heard. It’s my responsibility as an actor to portray them with utmost honesty and it’s a big responsibility as a storyteller. In the back of my head, I had imagined her whole story,” she said.
