Remember the girl who coaxed Subbu (Nani) to scale the mountains for Dudh Khasi in Yevade Subramanyam ? Malavika Nair’s second outing in Telugu, Kalyana Vaibhogame , is up for release. Speaking to us hours before the audio release, she says Kalyana Vaibhogame is a film in which she didn’t stop with just enacting her part. “I used to hang out with the production team and at times visited the edit room accompanied by (director) Nandini (Reddy). I got so involved and wanted to learn,” says the 18-year-old.
The romantic comedy, Malavika explains, presents different perspectives of marriage — told from the point of view of a generation unwilling to be tied down and an older generation that considers marriage sacred and enjoys all the ceremonies associated with the celebration.
Malavika juggled shooting for the film with her studies. “For the last three years, I’ve been balancing studies and films. It’s not easy but I shouldn’t complain, because this is something I took it on myself,” Malavika laughs. She is studying std. XII in Delhi and quips, “When a film is first presented to me I say no, because it is easy to refuse and focus on studies. But inevitably, I end up doing a few films.” A few Malayalam films and an impressive Tamil debut in Cuckoo later, Malavika is happy she agreed to do Kalyana Vaibhogame . Her father helps her coordinate her work and she recalls getting a few “out-and-out commercial films” after she did Yevade Subramanyam . “In Tamil, I got a few substantial offers after Cuckoo but the dates didn’t work out. I prefer to shoot during vacations,” she says.
Nandini’s offer, though, happened when she least expected. “As always, I refused when I learnt about the offer. Then Nandini called and narrated the story over phone. While talking to her, I got taken in by how she narrated. I regretted being adamant and refusing the film at first,” she says.
Later in the day, Malavika recalls having a conversation with her dad. “It was one of those conversations where I told him I felt I wasn’t having the freedom to make my own decision — not about cinema, about things in general. It was one of those father-daughter conversations. Kalyana Vaibhogame is the first film I took the decision on my own.”
She describes her character Divya, as empathetic and innocent with a touch of humour. “The girl in Yevade … was quirky and unconventional which gave rise to fun situations. Divya’s character gave me more scope to explore humour,” she says.
While on the sets, Malavika also learnt to speak Telugu and has also dubbed for the film. “I was particular that my Telugu shouldn’t sound like it’s spoken by a Malayali girl or a Delhi-bred girl. Nandini and others helped me.”
Malavika is eager to see the film’s outcome and at the same time, is concerned that she doesn’t lag behind in her studies. “When I got into std XI, the vastness of the syllabus hit me. It’s tougher in XIIth. There is a lot to study. Students in Delhi are extremely competitive and when I see that, I push myself and want to do well,” she signs off.
