2024-10-08 10:53:02
Malavika Mohanan is a pan India star, who is active in both South and Hindi industries. Malvika, who was seen in famous Bollywood director Majid Majidi’s film ‘Beyond the Clouds’, was recently in the news for ‘Thangalan’ and ‘Yudhra’. Malavika, daughter of a well-known cinematographer, was on her way to pursue higher education when one day she was offered a role by South superstar Mammootty on her father’s set and her life changed. A conversation with him.
Despite getting praise for Majid Majidi’s film ‘Beyond the Clouds’, you were not seen much in Hindi films? You turned towards South.
-The nature of our industry is such that we are not able to advance our career by making any prior planning. My parents are Malayali and I grew up in Mumbai, so I have seen Mumbai films as well as other films. I had no plan that I would work in any particular industry. I started with South films. But it is not that I did not get offers from Hindi. I have received many offers for Hindi films, but I have been very selective in terms of roles. If I got a role in a big hero’s film, I did not accept it just for the name sake. Character has always been important for me. If I like the story and feel that I will enjoy the role, then only I agree to the role, otherwise I would not have taken up the role. I prefer to remain choosy in this matter. But now I am in that phase of my career, where I am able to do whatever director I want to work with or whatever project I want to be a part of. I am also getting offers from Telugu and Hindi. I am going to make my Telugu debut with Prabhas. I had received many film offers from Telugu, but I wanted to make a big entry here. Now I am happy that I got the sweet fruit of the wait. I am getting good roles from Tamil. My film Yudhra was also released recently in Hindi. My film Thangalan also got a lot of praise, so I am happy.
You are self-reliant and capable, but what bothers you the most about girls?
-Power dynamics bother me a lot. Sometimes it becomes a bit difficult to handle. If you are more friendly around yourself, then it is interpreted as something else, but if you are a bit reserved, then you are considered to have an attitude. At times like these, being a girl becomes a bit tricky to balance. See, people around us are good and kind, but many times you are not made to feel that equality. Girls are treated unequally everywhere. One feels helpless after seeing and hearing the inequality or torture that girls have to go through. If girls want to realize equality, then it will have to be done at the grassroots level only. There has to be a change in people’s thinking.
You are quite famous on social media, but sometimes trolls follow you, how do you handle them?
-In our times, social media has become like a portfolio. If you are new and are searching for your ground, then social media is a medium for you, where you can show people that I can look like this or I can do this also. Such is the diversity of my looks. If someone is expert in dancing, he can showcase his talent by posting his dance video on social media. People post stunt and gymnastics videos. If you make it a medium to showcase your work or talent, it will be great, but yes everything has its own advantages and disadvantages, so its biggest disadvantage is trolling. I ignore trolls. I don’t read comments at all. My best friend enjoys reading comments a lot, so she laughs a lot by sharing the funniest comments of my posts in our group of friends, but I don’t pay much attention to trolls.
Your look in Thangalan was quite different. Being a heroine, how much do looks matter to you?
-I had no insecurity about my looks as to how I would look? Will it look good or bad? I am doing many films and I have a different look in every film. I am also doing a film where I have a typical glamorous look. But I was looking for a project where I could present myself as a performer. In today’s era, we cannot depend only on looks to sustain our career for a long time. Whatever my favorite actress has been, be it Sridevi or Madhuri Dixit, today she is known not just for her looks but for her performance. I am keen to do such roles which will strike a chord with the audience. When I was offered the role of Thangalan, I had no apprehension about how I would look on screen. I just wanted to show my strength in the role. It was very important for me to play the character believably. I can say that not a single day was easy. Had to get up at three in the morning. We used to reach the set at four o’clock. Used to spend in costume and make-up from four to eight o’clock. A wig also had to be worn, so it took 4-5 hours for hair-makeup-costume etc. My character was not a tribal queen. Stunts had to be done on the set without slippers. Had to suffer from injuries daily. I have been injured many times.