Gauthami Nair laughs when asked about the number of films she has been doing every year since 2022: one every year till 2024. That is three films in as many years. Nothing last year, and now, in 2026, the Tamil web series Kaakee Circus. “I am lucky that people remember me to give me that one project a year!”

She is happy about the feedback coming the series’ way, “we have been getting positive reviews, and the ratings are going up. I am happy to see a simple project getting the attention. We did not know what to expect. The audience loved the character, related to Shaili [her character] and understood what we have been trying to express through the series.”    

Kaakee Circus is a quirky comedy about a heist in a small town in Tamil Nadu; the action unravels around a thief and the mayhem it unleashes. Directed by Ameen Barif, who co-wrote the script with Akash Chandramohan, it was intended as a feature film in Malayalam, but took shape in Tamil. 

“Akash and I have been in touch for a while, regarding multiple projects. This was one of the projects we discussed; it was to be a Malayalam film.  And then there was radio silence, and one day, Akash told me it would be a Tamil web series. I liked the story, the team’s conviction… Ameen was animated about the narration and the quirky characters. I had to be a part of it,” she says. 

Her character, Shaili, is a nurse who is in a relationship with Manoj [Rajesh Madhavan]. Shaili, who is in on all of his activities, provokes Manoj, triggering the action which sets off the climax.   

Not that she has been idling away. The post-graduate in psychology has been busy working on her doctoral thesis, which she hopes to complete by early next year, and focus on her acting career. The actor, who made her debut in 2012 with Second Show has been part of films such as Diamond Necklace, Koothara, 2018, Meri Awaz Suno and Kondal. She has directed a film, Vrittham. 

Gauthami was pursuing her education alongside, which she admits, caused gaps in her acting career, and this she intends to rectify. Gauthami plans to direct films too, but that is in the future. “I have not fully quenched my thirst for acting. As it is, people are waiting for excuses to say that I am not acting, I don’t want to give them any more reasons,” she says, with a dash of amusement. Once she completes her doctorate, films will be her focus. But, she adds, she will return to psychology later.

Since she hasn’t been part of the industry consistently, the changes in it are rather glaring. The playbook has changed. Today, she says, it is easier to get a break than it was more than a decade ago when she started. “I was lucky to get projects, but it was difficult to be a newcomer those days. But today social media is a space for people to express themselves, and getting a role is not as difficult as it used to be.”    

Social media has launched several acting careers recently, with actors with a huge following on social media getting picked by producers. “We can’t blame anybody. From the producers’ perspective, they need to make money on their films.” 

She does, however, caution against being indiscriminate with its use, the ‘followers’ game, and how celebrities are leaving the circus that sometimes social media tends to be. “It has to be used cognisantly. There is freedom and opportunity, but we have to be careful of the content we put out there!” 

Kaakee Circus is streaming on Z5; is available in Malayalam