Interview | Abhinaya : I am excited to be back acting in a Malayalam film like ‘Pani’

Abhinaya talks about being part of the Joju George’s directorial debut, Pani, and her love of Kerala

The last time I met actor Abhinaya, in 2011, when she was in Kochi for the filming of The Reporter, she looked more like a regular college kid than an actor. By then she had been noticed for her work in the Samuthirakani directorial, Nadodigal (2009), and had won a clutch of awards. Today when she walked into the room as part of the promotions of her latest Malayalam release Pani, she looked every bit the glamorous star.  

The hearing and speech impaired actor is excited about Pani, actor Joju George’s directorial debut for which he has written the script and is the producer too. With the help of sign language interpreter Vyshnevi Maya, Abhinaya says, “I am a great fan of Joju Sir. I admire his work and the variety of roles he has essayed. I knew who he was when I first met him when he came over in August 2023 with the script. I liked the script, it is very different! And I came on board.” Joju had seen her work in the Tamil film Mark Antony and had liked her in it. That is how he decided to approach her for the film. 

It was an opportunity to return to Kerala. She animatedly signs how she and her late mother, Hemalatha, love visiting Kerala and the food. “Appams are a favourite, the coconut chutney in Kerala is too good and, of course, the seafood!” 

Abhinaya refuses to reveal what she liked in the script, except that her character’s name is Gowri, the lead Giri’s (Joju George) wife. “Just wait for release and you will find out,” she signs. 

Her last Malayalam release was The Reporter, which hit theatres in 2015, three years after filming. The almost 10-year gap between her two Malayalam films, she says, was unintentional. Apart from the fact that she did not get any interesting offers, she was busy in the Tamil and Telugu film industries.   

Over the years she has only acted in a couple of films as a speech or hearing impaired person, otherwise they have all been hearing/speaking characters. To do that, she has worked out a system that includes lip reading to understand what is expected of her on sets. 

“The script is written in English, which I read or rather mug-up. That is homework and preparation. Telugu is easy for me, other languages used to be harder but now I have figured out my way of working with it [the impairment].” Earlier she also had help from her mother, who would accompany her.  

It was the same on the sets of Pani, where she worked without a sign language interpreter. “My process was the same. Joju sir was a big help. I have to specially mention the associates (directors) who were a huge help — Sandeep, Safar Sanal and creative producer Jayan Nambiar. They made the process extremely easy for me, by helping me with how to ‘say’ the lines and words. I could not have done it without their help! I am very excited about the release and the fact that I am back acting in a Malayalam film!” While she has a few Tamil and Telugu projects lined up, she hopes to be able do more Malayalam films in the future.

Pani is playing in theatres

Published - October 24, 2024 02:51 pm IST