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Divya Pillai, who was born and raised in the UAE, worked in Human Resources for cabin crew recruitment at Emirates and assumed that she would remain in the airline industry well into her career. But fate had different plans.
See more at https://gulfnews.com/videos
Divya Pillai, who was born and raised in the UAE, worked in Human Resources for cabin crew recruitment at Emirates and assumed that she would remain in the airline industry well into her career. But fate had different plans.
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00:00So there was this movie that I watched, it's about this girl, how she newly married, she goes to a new place in Kerala
00:12and she was here, she was outside Kerala, she lived outside Kerala all her life and then she gets married
00:19she goes to Kerala and then she starts her life there with her husband
00:25and then the issues that she faced, people, the way how they...
00:32that movie kind of struck and I wanted to do roles like that, that really inspired me
00:40and I'm like, I could have been that, that movie partly was shot in Dubai
00:46so I was like, I really missed acting then, it was, I took a break for about a year to concentrate on my career
00:54here in Dubai and then I was like, oh my god, what am I doing, I really miss acting
01:00and yeah, I think that when I saw that movie was when I decided that I have to continue my passion
01:09so growing up, never even imagined that I would be an actress, we used to watch, you know, growing up on Thursday nights
01:20on Channel 33, all the Bollywood movies, so that's, I never even imagined that I would be an actress
01:29so my parents were, but they liked me to be in cultural, they encouraged me to do extracurricular activities
01:39like singing, dancing, performing on stage, but that was about it and then academics was more important
01:46and so I continued studying, became an engineer and then what happened was
01:56my friend was getting married, she got married to a celebrity's brother in Kerala
02:05so I happened to be at the wedding and the videographer there, kind of the wedding videographer
02:13so then they kind of captured a moment where I was like telling her to, you know, smile
02:18and you know when we have bidai, as in like when the girl leaves her parents and then goes along with her husband
02:25so there she was like, it was an emotional moment so I was like asking her to smile
02:29and they kind of captured that and it kept playing at the reception as highlights
02:35and one of the directors spotted me and he contacted my friend and asked if I was interested in doing a part in his movie
02:43so that's how, that was my entry in the world of cinema
02:48My first job was in Emirates in cabin crew recruitment and I just, you know, I picked up from there
02:57and I thought I would just be an airline professional for the rest of my life and just keep growing there, that's my career
03:06but I knew something was missing, I just knew, you know, yeah, I enjoyed my job, I loved it
03:14you know, I kept moving in different airline industries, I resigned recently from Flight Dubai as you know
03:23and to concentrate in my movie career but yeah, I just knew something was missing
03:29and so I did my first movie, like I just took the plunge, my friends, my family, they just said that you should do it
03:38go do this movie, nobody stopped me or anything, like they all said yeah, yeah, do it, it's fine
03:45so then my second movie came with one of India's very prestigious, like especially in south of India
03:55very prestigious director Jeetu Joseph, so he and Prithviraj was doing the lead of that movie
04:02again, an amazing Malayalam actor, lead actor, so that was my second movie offer
04:09I couldn't say no, I was playing the lead actress
04:12so that gave me the confidence like okay, there is something that, you know, there is something that I can do
04:20I just, I was not scared in front of the camera or you know, that initial, I thought I would be but I kind of surprised myself
04:27and going forward then, you know, that was learning curve for me because that was a challenging role that I did
04:36because I had to have emotions like anger, sadness, you know, happiness, everything
04:45and it was not easy and I just didn't know how to do it but I somehow managed
04:50and yeah, so that happened and then each and every movie that I did afterwards
04:57like even if it's a small part, I kept in touch, you know, three days leave, four days leave
05:03taking leave from my job and then going and doing this, it wasn't easy, you know, balancing everything
05:10your family life, your career and your passion wasn't easy but then that was my true calling
05:17so after each and every movie, I just kept getting confident and then now eight movies later
05:24I am, I know that I have just taken the right decision and I just need to do this full time
05:31acting is not a part time job, you know, being an actor, if that is your passion and that is your true calling
05:37that is a full time job, it needs your, you know, all your time and energy
05:41so my role models and see I have a lot of support, I mean honestly I wouldn't be able to be here
05:50without my friends, without my family and, you know, my peers from even from my workplace
05:57my previous workplace, I wouldn't be here and I wouldn't be able to take this step
06:02so like my mom is a true inspiration for me, like she, as I was growing up and even now
06:13she hasn't stopped, like she is continuously trying to study, she is trying to get better
06:19so my parents came, my dad and my mom, they both came to Dubai like I think early 80s
06:27and they got married, you know, they met here, they got married
06:33so Dubai is really like home, I mean I was born and raised here
06:37so this is home for all of us, like my family, entire family actually
06:43so we are very connected to this place and this is the magic of Dubai, right
06:47it is such a blessed place and it gives you kind of, you know, opportunities
06:53and gives you that kind of, I just feel this land is blessed
06:57so I mean I am kind of, we kind of received that kind of, my parents came here to look for a better future
07:05so my mom, my dad had his own business here, he started his own business
07:09he had a bookstore initially starting with and then he moved to different wenches
07:14and my mom was a nurse, she started out being a nurse and then she became a clinical auditor
07:22because she continued studying, she got her degree from Wollongong University
07:28and then she became a quality auditor after that and that's how, and even now after retiring
07:37she has gone back to India, my parents have gone back to India
07:40and she has, she continued studying and now she practices acupressure
07:46so and she is now starting a small clinic of her own back home in Kerala
07:51so this is my mom and to me and my sister this is the kind of, she is kind of instilled in us
07:58that we have to just keep pushing ourselves, there is no time for rest
08:03and this is your life and you just keep trying and pushing yourself
08:07and achieving your dreams and keep pushing and go get it
08:11like that's what, my mom is my inspiration and my, I wouldn't be able to do all this
08:20like you know travel between Dubai, Kerala, Cochin, I mean Cochin, Chennai and then back Dubai
08:27all, I travel a lot now because now that I am focusing on my career
08:32and my husband has been an immense support as well during all this
08:38and my friends, you know I just can't go beyond what's like
08:44whenever, you know there are times when we actually feel like oh my god anxious
08:49like when I was, when I had, when I took a decision to quit my job
08:53it wasn't easy, I was like oh my god am I doing the right thing
08:58and that's when you have your friends to actually hold back and fall back on
09:03and then they say no no that's, this is what you want to do
09:06and sometimes you want to hear it from the people who are closest to you
09:09and they kind of push me through all that
09:13and at work even you know my previous bosses like especially Mr. Sudhir
09:24he was my last like boss when I resigned
09:32honestly he gave me the courage to put in my resignation
09:36I had a heart to heart to him and I was like Sudhir I want to do this but I am not sure
09:41and he was like Divya I know that this is what you want to do
09:46why do you not have the confidence in yourself
09:49so he kind of like pumped that into me and said do it
09:52and without these people in my life I don't think I would be able to you know
09:57so it's sometimes because you need that extra courage
10:01you need that extra push from people so that you can go ahead
10:06so I am just now with all these people behind me
10:11all my ammunition ready I am just going to go back to India
10:18and let's see how it goes
10:20so I am just preparing myself for that
10:24you know to take because I need to and once I am back in Kerala
10:28it's just going to be work, work, work, work, work
10:30and so I have got all that ready
10:33and I have already signed up for two movies that is coming up
10:40I mean it's still under the pipeline I can't really speak about it
10:43but then yeah that's coming up
10:45but so I am just preparing mentally that I am going to be
10:49because I honestly staying away from Dubai and staying away from home is not easy
10:55and so that's the kind of preparation that I am just doing
11:03and then because I know it's just going to be constant work
11:06so this is my vacation period for a bit now
11:08and it's going to be work so I am just getting prepared for all that yeah
11:19For more information visit www.FEMA.gov