Lenaa marks comeback with Jeethu Joseph’s ‘Valathu Vashathe Kallan’ and next book, ‘Womenopause’

Lenaa calls Jeethu Joseph’s Valathu Vashathe Kallan her ‘comeback’ film. The actor was on the ‘second longest’ break (one-and-a-half years) of her career after her marriage to Group Captain Prashant Nair in January 2024. The couple travelled to the US where Nair was training at NASA’s Johnson Space Center. He was the backup astronaut for Group Captain Shubhanshu Shukla as part of the Axiom Mission 4 to the International Space Center in 2025. 

“Now I am back and looking forward to getting busy with work,” says the actor over phone from Bengaluru.   

An interesting comeback

She says of her role in the film, “I have a nice and interesting part to play in the crime drama, I am really enjoying the genre the film falls under. They have hit a sweet spot between crime thrillers and the emotional aspect; usually crime thrillers don’t delve into the emotions of people in that environment. This is quite a fresh take on that and it is always fun to work with Jeethu Joseph sir.” She essays the role of Theresa Samuel, Joju George’s character Samuel Joseph’s wife.       

Lenaa confesses she missed work, being on the set, acting… “it has been my whole life; so I have missed being at work.” Not for her the FOMO that one associates with the film industry and the compulsion to be constantly seen or heard. “I have done this three-four times before, it has become a cyclical thing now. The longest was when I took two years away to complete my Master’s.” Lenaa is a post graduate in Clinical Psychology.  

She sounds very calm, the kind that comes with finding one’s space. She agrees, “There has been a settling that has happened to me. I guess it has to do with the female transition that is happening to me which I write about in my book, Womenopause. I think it is a level of maturity that has come in.” 

Malayalam actor Lenaa 
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Rather than the years, the actor, who turns 45 in March, says, “the ‘shift’ has to do with perimenopause, where everything changes: the way of looking at life, your health, yourself, and the world. It happens because of the shift in hormone levels. And if you don’t understand what is happening to you, it could spiral into a very negative state of mind.” 

Priority shift

Understanding the process would help negotiate the changes better and become the best version of oneself. Women who have to multitask — looking after families, working and take on many roles — will now have to make their health top priority. “That happened to me, it coincided with my marriage, so yes, it has been a huge personality shift for me. So these are the things I am writing about in my second book.” 

Her first book, The Autobiography of God, about her life in which she also wrote about mental health, was published by Penguin in 2023; Penguin is also the publisher of Womenopause. Pre-orders for the book are scheduled to open on March 8, 2026.

Circling back to Valathu Vashathe Kallan, her third film with Jeethu after Aadhi and Nunakuzhi, she says, “It is wonderful working with Jeethu Joseph because, as a director, he is similar to the kind of actor I am. I am the same actor approaching different scripts so it [the script] shapes the kind of actor I am going to be, and so does the director.  Similarly Jeethu changes each time with a script, each one brings out a different directorial style, a way of approaching things and that’s why, I think, he sticks to the same main technicians.

“That is the only common factor because he is going to completely change his approach to how he deals with it. His style of directing me in Aadhi was very different from Nunakuzhi, which was completely light hearted. He gave me total freedom in it. In Valathu Vashathey Kallan, it was very specific to the script, the mood and the way he wanted emotions to come out. Once we got to filming, all power was given to us actors. Like ‘let’s see what you are going to come up with?’” She acknowledges the space Jeethu has given his actors — Biju Menon, Joju George, and of course, herself, to perform. 

Lenaa is excited and looking forward to the release. “I am as excited as I would be for my first release. Such breaks are good for me because I change as a person when I take breaks from films. I am transforming as an individual, my life situations are changing, my environment as well. So, when a complete makeover of personality happens, there is freshness when I act.”

The film is playing in theatres

Published – January 30, 2026 11:18 am IST