Genelia D’ Souza couldn’ t have asked for a better debut in
Malayalam cinema. She will be
seen as a warrior princess in
celebrated cinematographer
Santosh Sivan’ s Urumi. The actress shares her excitement
and the biggest challenges of
this project in an exclusive
interview with rediff.com’ s Radhika Rajamani.
What was your first reaction on
getting this role?
I met co-producers Mubina and
Santosh Sivan in Mumbai and
they explained the film to me. I was extremely busy then, and
wondered how I would do it. At
first it meant excitement. Then
the thought came to me that it
was a new industry, too, as I
had not acted in a Malayalam film before.
What excited you about the film?
Sivan told me it was something I
had never seen before. Everyone
comes to you saying the same
thing, but he has the reputation of making an actor do what she
has never done before and
presenting her in the best
possible way. Ayesha’ s character is a warrior princess without her
kingdom.
Did you read up for the role, or
was your acting based on
Sivan’ s brief? Santosh Sir had done two years
of research on this. He had the
pictures and the paintings. Since
he sketches, he had everything
drawn when I met him. Of course
there were little insertions here and there. I would say Ayesha of
Arakkal is an unsung hero. The
story behind her is so
interesting that it helped me
gauge what he wanted out of
me as an actor. You learnt horse racing and
Kalaripayattu for the film. How
exacting was it?
One had heard stories of horses
going ballistic, but I took to it
instantly. Sivan never allowed me to smile in the entire film and
that for me was one of the
biggest challenges, as I am
constantly smiling. On screen, you
have always seen me bubbly.
Here, Ayesha talks with her eyes. She enters the film with a
motive. I had to understand her
past before shooting for the film
because we did not show it.
Did you have any horse riding
mishaps? No. My horse was a very friendly
one. I am an animal lover. I
realised it was like how you
treat your pets. The more you
talk to them, the more they
understand you. I think that’ s what happened with me and my
horse Basha.
Were the Kalari sessions
exacting?
They were exhausting. When you
see others perform Kalari, you think you will pick it up fast but
it’ s an art, a difficult one. On the first day, my whole body ached. I
couldn’ t move the next day; it was very painful, but I practised.
We used to shoot from 7 am to
6 pm, and every evening from 7
pm to 10.30 pm, I practised
Kalari. I learnt to use the stick,
learnt sword fighting, learnt positioning the body, etc. I never
fought against girls in the film; it
was always guys. So, I needed to
have controlled aggression.
How did you overcome the
language barrier? It was difficult initially, but
eventually you get the hang of
it. Of course, you have to work
harder. It was tough, but I
pushed myself.
How was it doing the daredevil stunts?
Extremely difficult. I am an
adventurous person, so I
enjoyed doing all of it. But it was
a lot of hard work. I can’ t deny the fact that I had to practice
them.
How did you cultivate the
warrior look? Were you asked to
put on weight?
No. An Indian frame is a petite frame. Strength means having to
put on muscle and girls can
never put on muscle. It’ s a how you are draped, how you use
your eyes. Santosh Sir helped me
do that. Even Prabhu Deva
helped. It was lovely working
with Prabhu Deva. I always
thought he was aloof, but we got along beautifully. Prabhu
Deva has done a brilliant job.
What were the other challenges
you faced?
From the minute I entered to
shoot till I finished the film, it was a challenge. There was not
one bit that I can say wasn’ t a challenge. It’ s not something I’ ve done before. Ayesha is a Muslim
and I’ ve never played a Muslim character before. I had to have
kohl in my eyes, yet make them
look raw. I have not shaped my
eyebrows in the film. I had to be
aggressive, I had to be hurt.
How was it working with Prithvi? Prithvi is a lovely co-star who
knew a lot about the film.
There’ s very interesting chemistry between Prithvi and
me; I’ m petite and he’ s a warrior.
How was Santosh Sivan as a
director?
He was fantabulous. The way he
treats his artistes is a joy to
watch. There was no unnecessary waiting. If you are
excellent, he’ ll praise you and motivate you. He was also the
producer along with Prithvi. He
held the team together. With
Santosh there are so many
things that I have never seen.
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