Vivacious Sarah is calling the tune these days and celebrating with her is Parvathy who played Sarah, an RJ in Anjali Menon’s rocking Bangalore Days .
“It was wonderful to be part of a cast like that. I have been receiving messages and congratulatory calls. Then there are people calling me Sarah. This is exactly what I wanted. I longed for people to forget Parvathy and remember my character. That has finally happened in Malayalam,” says the actress on the sidelines of an acting workshop conducted by Adishakti theatre in Puducherry.
The actress has just finished her work for Kamal Hassan’s Uthama Villain and so she is making the most of her free time before she joins the set of Ennum Ninte Moideen .
Getting articulate about her work in Uthama Villain , she says: “Working with any senior actor is a learning experience, so getting to work with a thespian like Kamal Hassan was a memorable one. More so with a script that he has written. Five to six rehearsals before a take were common and only then would we go in for a take. Even then if he felt there was more we could do for the scene, there would be another take.” The talented actress adds that it was a pleasant surprise when a veteran like Kamal Hassan gave the actors the freedom to discuss the script and the scenes.
“I have worked in films where we just put on the make-up and go in for a shoot without any discussions and even a talk with the director,” she adds.
Parvathy feels that working with actors and watching how they interpret a script are always interesting and that is why she decided to join the workshop. Even after films in Malayalam, Tamil and Kannada, Parvathy wants to keep fine tuning her acting skills. Perhaps, this insistence on self-evaluation and constant appraisal makes her different from the run of the mill glamorous babes in Indian cinema.
Known to be extremely choosy about the script and her role in a film, Parvathy tasted success in Kannada and Tamil before she Out of Syllabus tuned in with the Malayalam audience with Sarah.
Usually before any role the critically acclaimed actress, who made her debut with Out Of Syllabus (2006), does some serious research to flesh out her character.
Prior to her roles in Sasi’s Tamil film Poo and Bharat Bala’s Maryan , she had met people who came from the same background as her characters.
“I did the same for Sarah too. I visited Club FM and Indigo, a radio station in Bangalore, to understand the life and work of an RJ. But in this film, while the research was there in the background, I surrendered myself to the director. She took my hand and guided me into the heart of Sarah,” she says.
Although Fahadh Faasil, Dulquer Salmaan, Nazriya Nazim and Nivin Pauly had different styles of working, Anjali and Anwar Rasheed, the producer of the film, were able to draw the best from each and yet give them the space to live each character on screen.
“It was a new experience for me. For instance, both Fahadh and I had researched on our characters. In addition, I usually have a bag of tricks I bring to my films. Anjali took away my bag and made me see and understand Sarah from a different perspective. She helped me find that Sarah in me,” gushes Paravthy. It is evident that Parvathy can go on and on about her director.
Albeit reluctant to categorise Anjali on the basis of gender, Parvathy is candid when she says there is a difference, perhaps a difference in the way Anjali is not afraid of her femininity and in the way she is confident about her womanhood.
“There is a sensitivity that she brings in and that makes a great deal of difference. It is not only about gender. I guess it is about being humane,” defines Parvathy, searching for the right words to express how Anjali works her magic.
This is Parvathy’s second film with a woman director, the first being Vijayalakshmi Singh’s Kannada film Male Barali Manju Irali .
The 26-year-old is appearing next in Ennum Ninte Moideen with Prithviraj.
Looks like happy days are here again for the actress who says that she has to attend the next class on percussion before she signs off.
