Kendy Zirdo – Malayalam film actress of ‘Android Kunjappan Version 5.25’ fame

Kendy Zirdo is a Malayalam film actress of Arunachal Pradesh origin. She marked her screen debut with Android Kunjappan Version 5.25 released in 2019, which shot her to instant fame. She played Soubin’s girlfriend Hitomi in the movie, a half-Malayali and a half-Japanese, who delivers Malayalam dialogues with heavy accent. In fact Kendy Zirdo dubbed for the movie.

Kendy Zirdo is a stage actress turned film actor

Kendy Zirdo hails from Basar, Arunachal Pradesh, and belongs to Galo community. Her father is a policeman and her mother is a Child Development Officer in Arunachal Pradesh. She is the middle child among 5 siblings. She completed her graduation in Arunachal Pradesh. Initially her parents were not convinced for her career in theatre, as they felt that it has less scope and not as prestigious as a doctor or engineer.

Though her parents don’t promote her career in theatre, they shared her promotional posts of the film in social media. One day she packed her things and ran away from her home to Gangtok, Himalaya, and studied in the National school of drama. After one year she continued her theatre studies at Hyderabad.

Android Kunjappan Version 5.25 marks her acting debut

She joined Malayalam film industry with Android Kunjappan Version 5.25 released in 2019, and directed by Ratheesh Balakrishnan Poduval. Filmmakers travelled a lot in search of their lead heroine, before they finally zeroed Zirdo for the role. Kendy has done stage performances, and Android Kunjappan Version 5.25 is her first big screen appearance. She was asked to deliver Malayalam dialogues for movie’s auditions conducted in Kochi. She attended 2.5 hours of audition, before grabbing the role.

She is currently doing Master’s in Performing Arts at Hyderabad University. She is doing her final year studies when her debut film got released. She wants to continue with her theatre along with films, and would love to become a part of Malayalam cinema.

Kendy Zirdo – Some interesting and less-known facts

1. She is a stage actress turned film actress at the age of 25. She has done Shakespeare plays before, and has been a part of Marathi theatre.

2. As there are not much theatres in her state, she moved out of there, and joined Hyderabad University for theatre studies.

3. Filmmakers of Android Kunjappan wanted a Japanese girl to portray Soubin’s girlfriend. But when it proved difficult, an assistant director who was a common friend suggested Kendy’s name.

4. Apart from acting in a Malayalam movie, she also dubbed for it, though she is not familiar with the language. For her Malayalam is one of the difficult languages to master.

5. She wrote down all her Malayalam lines of Android Kunjappan in Hindi and English and learnt them before delivering the dialogues for shooting.

6. She has never watched Malayalam films before, yet familiar with big names like Mammootty and Mohanlal.