Why Actress Erica Fernandes Bid Adieu To Film Industry

Erica Fernandes, before she etched her name in the television industry, appeared in several South Indian films. Erica, since her teenage, started acting in Telugu, Tamil and Kannada films. Despite being featured with prominent actors like Puneeth Rajkumar, the actor failed to make her mark as a South Indian actress following which she starred in Hindi television shows and music videos.

Director Sasi roped in Erica Fernandes for the Tamil film Ainthu Ainthu Ainthu at the time she was shooting for another project. The director offered her the role of a software engineer in the film. She made her debut with Sasi’s film due to the delay in the release date of other films. In 2014, Erica entered the Kannada films with Ninnindale, featuring alongside Puneeth Rajkumar. Though the film worked well, Puneeth was accredited for the response and Erica’s Kannada debut seemingly went unnoticed.

Soon, Erica bagged her first Hindi film, Babloo Happy Hai. It was directed by Nila Madhab Panda. Meanwhile, Galipatam marked her Telugu debut. The film was showered with mixed reviews and Erica was praised for her decent performance in the film. However, things did not go in favour of the actress and gradually, she disappeared from the South Indian films. Her last appearance was in the 2017 Tamil film Vizhithiru.

In a conversation with ETimes, Erica had opened up about facing rejections in the South Indian film industry. She also recalled being asked to pad up due to her physique. Erica said, “I was very skinny back then. I was 18 years old when I started doing South films. I worked for a couple of years. During that time, I did have to face issues. I was thin and not fit according to them then. They wanted some mass on me. For that reason, I had to be padded up to get into the character they wanted to portray. I have faced those issues. I don’t think I would do that anymore now.”

Erica’s last television appearance was on the Sony TV show Kuch Rang Pyar Ke Aise Bhi: Nayi Kahani in which she played Dr Sonakshi Bose. The show was a reboot of her 2016 show of the same name.