As Namitha made her way backstage after a live dance performance in Chennai, a Sun TV anchorman asked her what she liked doing the most, and she surprised him by saying, “reading.” “Really? Wow. Who’s your favorite writer?” “Dan Brown is one of my favorites”, replied Namitha. “Which of his books have you read?’ he shot back. And without blinking an eyelid she rattled of all four of his books, more or less in the order they were published! Smiling at the Sun TV reporter who was looking visibly impressed, she said chidingly, “You’re were testing if I could name the books, right?’

Watching this exchange on TV, many of us at Behindwoods were intrigued and enchanted by this side of Namitha – the passionate reader. As the star judge on Maanada Mayilada, she always comes across as charming, sincere, and articulate –unusual in a star stereotyped as an item girl. There had to be, we felt, another Namitha most of us had not encountered. Curious, we decided we just had to speak to her and find out more about her inner life. And though she was in the middle of a hectic shooting schedule, she graciously took time out to talk to us.