Nithya Menen recently opened up about something unexpected; her love-hate relationship with the beloved South Indian favourite, parotta.

In an interview with Cineulagam, the actor spoke about food, her new film ‘Thalaivan Thalaivii’, and more.

When Suhasini asked her about parotta, the flaky, layered flatbread most South Indians swear by, Nithya admitted she wasn’t always a fan.

“In real life, I have no relationship with parotta at all. I’m this person who completely avoids certain food in life. Parotta was one such thing because I’ve heard it’s not good for you,” she said.

“It’s after acting in this movie that I started actually having it. I first had parotta from Madurai because people insisted on having it, for its popularity there. But once I tried, I liked it so much. It was very tasty! So I did have it a couple of times during the shoot. I had started a relationship with parotta but now it’s broken up!” she laughed.

The story of ‘Thalaivan Thalaivii’, revolves around a parotta shop run by the characters played by Nithya and Vijay Sethupathi. Naturally, parotta made a regular appearance on set and that’s when her opinion started to shift.

“Because of this, we used to eat parotta on the set too a lot, as there’d be always parotta being made for the scenes. So in between shoot, Vijay Sethupathi sir and all of us used to eat kothu parotta right there. He even learnt to make parotta now,” she said.

In a fun moment during the chat, Nithya was asked who she’d compare to a samosa, the kind of person who seems one way on the outside and very different on the inside.

“I’d say the whole world is full of people who like samosa,” she remarked playfully. 

"I used to be this person who believed people are the way they are outside. It’s now I started to learn that, okay, there are people who can be very different inside and show a different personality outside,” she explained.

As for someone who reminds her of a gulab jamun?

“He’s actually a very sweet person,” she said, referring to director Mysskin.

When the conversation turned to cooking and her favourite food, Nithya confessed she hasn’t spent much time in the kitchen.

“Sadly, I don’t cook. It’s because of the kind of schedule we have… the moment you reach home, all you want to do is rest. You just want to relax. We actually require that energy to do cooking, that I never had. Although during COVID I thought I’d give it a try, that didn’t happen.”

“I don’t have any preference for food. It’s always been like, ‘okay, I have to eat, so I’ll eat something healthy’ and that’s enough. By healthy I didn’t mean like fitness kind of healthy, just healthy food.”

“I feel like I think I’ll be good at cooking, but I have to try. Whatever I’ve tried making, they were tasty. I think I make French toast better,” she said.

About Thalaivan Thalaivii

Billed as a rugged love story, ‘Thalaivan Thalaivii’ follows the emotional journey of a couple post-marriage.

Vijay Sethupathi brings in a lighter, fun avatar while Nithya plays a grounded, impactful role.

The film also stars Yogi Babu, Saravanan, RK Suresh and Deepa.

Directed by Pandiraj and backed by Santhosh Narayanan’s already viral music, the film is set to release in Tamil and Telugu on July 25th.