Malavika Mohanan is a pan India star, who is active in both South and Hindi industries. Malavika, 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 renowned 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 sets 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 doing any planning in advance. My parents are Malayali and I grew up in Mumbai, so I have watched Mumbaiya 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. Character has always been important to me. If I like the story and I think I will like this character, then only I agree to this role, otherwise I do not do this role. I like to be choosy in this matter. But now I am at that stage 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 waiting. I am getting good roles from Tamil. My film Yudhra was recently released in Hindi also. My film Thangalan also got a lot of appreciation, 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 little difficult to handle. If you are more friendly around yourself, it is considered something else, but if you are a bit reserved, it is considered that you have an attitude. At such times, being a girl, it becomes a bit difficult to strike a balance. Look, people around us are nice and kind, but sometimes you are not made to feel that equality. Girls are treated unequally everywhere. Girls feel helpless after seeing and hearing about the inequality or harassment they have to go through. If girls have to realize equality then it has 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 looking for your ground, then social media is a medium for you, where you can show people that I can look like this or do this also. Such is the diversity of my looks. If someone is expert in dancing then he can show his talent by posting his dance video on social media. People post videos of stunts and gymnastics. It would be great if you make it a medium to showcase your work or talent, 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, so she shares the funniest comments on my posts with our group of friends and makes us laugh a lot, but I don't pay much attention to trolls.
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Your look in Thangalan was quite different. Being a heroine, how much do looks matter to you?
-I had no insecurities about how I would look. Will it feel good or bad? I am doing many films and I have a different look in every film. I am also doing a film in which my look is typical glamorous. But I was looking for a project where I could present myself as an artist. In today's era, we cannot depend only on looks to sustain our career for a long time. Whoever my favorite actress may have been, be it Sridevi or Madhuri Dixit, today she is known not just for her looks but for her acting. I am keen to do roles that the audience will like. 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 from four o'clock till eight o'clock in dress and makeup. 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 without slippers on the set. Had to deal with injuries daily. I have been injured many times.
