Anupama Parameswaran Partners with indē wild, Reflects on Career Journey

Actress Anupama Parameswaran has opened up about her relationship with her hair, her career trajectory across four film industries, and her new collaboration as the face of beauty brand indē wild's champi campaign.

Parameswaran, known for films such as Premam, A Aa, Karthikeya 2, 18 Pages, and Tillu Square, recalled how her natural curls were once a significant source of insecurity during her childhood. She shared that peers would tuck pen caps, paper, and dry leaves into her hair, and salons frequently referred to it as frizzy and damaged.

Early in her acting career, Parameswaran attempted to conform to straight-hair beauty standards, which resulted in severe hair breakage. After cutting her damaged hair in a major chop, she began protecting her curls and used wigs whenever roles demanded straight hair.

Reflecting on family hair care rituals in Hyderabad, Parameswaran described the traditional Sunday champi routines of her youth. Her mother and grandmother boiled coconut oil with herbs like neelambari and used leftover debris as a scalp scrub, followed by a detangling routine before washing.

Parameswaran, who entered the film industry at age 18 with the Malayalam film Premam and is now 30, identified her 2021 short film Freedom at Midnight as a crucial turning point in her acting journey. She noted that the role shifted audience perception, allowing her to take on more complex and layered characters.

Having worked across Malayalam, Telugu, Tamil, and Kannada cinema—including a project with the late actor Puneeth Rajkumar—Parameswaran noted that navigating different languages has shaped her approach to performance and broadened her understanding of varied character perspectives.