Malavika Mohanan is celebrating Onam at her hometown in Payyannur, with household and buddies, whereas basking in the success of Hridayapoorvam. However, for her, as a lot as being half of the movie was particular, it was the undeniable fact that she was working with two folks whose movies she had watched rising up — actor Mohanlal and director Sathyan Anthikad — that made the undertaking much more near her coronary heart. She calls the experience of Hridayapoorvam “overwhelming.”
Of course, her pleasure is especially as a result of she shared the display with Mohanlal. “Though I have worked in popular films with big actors before, the difference is that I am a girl who has grown up in a different place. I grew up consuming Hindi films because I was in Mumbai. I watched Malayalam films because of my parents [who are Malayalis]. I did not grow up watching Telugu or Tamil films. So, even though [in these languages] you know how big these actors might be, it is not like Mohanlal, whose films you have watched growing up. That Mohanlal was in front of me, making me feel surreal!” Though she thought that the feeling could be gone in a pair of days, she confesses it by no means left her.
For context, Malavika has acted with Mammootty (The Great Father), Rajinikanth, Vijay Sethupathi (Vetta), Vijay (Master), Dhanush (Maaran), and Vikram (Thangalan).
That look of surprise or awe labored in Malavika’s favour throughout the shoot of Hridayapoorvam as a result of Mohanlal’s character, Sandeep Balakrishnan, is the recipient of her character, Haritha’s, father’s coronary heart. “It goes with character,” she agrees, laughing.
She talks about the first scene in the movie, during which Haritha meets Sandeep to ask him to her engagement. “So, that was the first day of my shoot — there was some awkwardness and unfamiliarity. And my last scene was the last day of filming. I see him off at the airport. So, there was a level of familiarity; it was a pretty clever way to shoot!
What added to the experience for Malavika was getting to see first-hand the legendary pair of Sathyan Anthikad and Mohanlal at work, especially their camaraderie as a duo. “It was quite something to watch them — two artists who have collaborated in over 22-24 films together. They have practically grown up together. Today, directors don’t even make 22 films in their entire careers.”
Reminiscing about how she landed the function, Malavika says when she bought the name from Akhil Sathyan, she thought it was for a movie he is perhaps directing, since each of Sathyan Anthikad’s sons are filmmakers. “That is when he told me it was for a film his father was making. Everything happened very quickly. Akhil told me that his father would call me, and within five minutes, I got the call.” Malavika was filming in Hyderabad at the time.
An issue she foresaw was her lack of proficiency in Malayalam. “I told Sathyan Sir that I spoke the Payannur dialect. He told me not to worry because the character lived in Pune; she was born and brought up there. Actors are expected to learn and do the job, but here was someone who was making a change for the artist.”
Malavika with Mohanlal in ‘Hridayapoorvam’.
| Photo Credit:
Special Arrangement
There is a point out in the movie of Haritha’s father hailing from Payannur. It additionally confirmed her how a lot they wished her to be half of the movie. Praising the Hridayapoorvam crew, she calls it “an A-level team”.
The actor, who made her Malayalam debut reverse Dulquer Salmaan in Pattam Pole (2013), calls herself a late bloomer in the Malayalam movie business. She clarifies that it was not a deliberate determination (to do fewer Malayalam films), and issues simply performed out that manner. Malavika was in school when she bought chosen for Pattam Pole.
Even if that movie — directed by cinematographer N Alagappan — didn’t do effectively in theatres, it has discovered love from the viewers over the years. She laughs, saying, “The number of Malayalis who have watched that film over the last few years is crazy!”
“Some films don’t do well in theatres but later go on to be popular, so much so that people watch them repeatedly. Pattam Pole is one such movie. Even now, the actors I have worked with, such as Sangeeth (Pratap) and Mathew (Thomas), have told me they loved Pattam Pole. And I am like ‘wish I had known then’.” Sangeeth acted with her in Hridayapoorvam, and Mathew was her co-star in the 2023 movie Christy.
When Pattam Pole occurred, she was finding out promoting. Malavika was planning to get into filmmaking as she was aiding advert filmmakers. Soon, she began getting movie gives. “In your early 20s, you don’t know which direction you want to take, and I was not somebody who set out to be an actor. It took me a while to decide.” She starred in a pair of Malayalam movies, after which she landed Majid Majidi’s Beyond the Clouds, which fully modified the trajectory of her profession, leading to gives from the Tamil business.
This yr, she makes her Telugu debut in TheRaja Saab reverse Prabhas. She had been getting gives in Telugu, however she took her time selecting her movie and co-star, says Malavika. Although she was in talks for one more Telugu movie with Prabhas, that didn’t pan out, “and then a couple of months later, I got the call for The Raja Saab. I liked the character and the story!”
Malavika is on a roll. Apart from TheRaja Saab, which is ready for launch later this yr, her Tamil movie, Sardar 2, with Karthi, can also be prepared for launch. “I have been working on these films for a while. It is just that the releases are happening back-to-back,” she indicators off.
