Amala Paul recalls being scared while shooting nude scenes for Aadai: ‘I don’t think I would do it now’

Amala Paul revealed her initial concerns about appearing nude in the film Aadai, worrying about being stereotyped.

Actor Amala Paul has opened up about the risks she took while working on Aadai, the 2019 Tamil film in which she appeared nude for a pivotal sequence. In a chat with India Today, the actor recalled having concerns about her image before saying yes to the film and added that she would not make the same choice again.

Amala Paul talks about Aadai

Amala Paul's still from Aadai.

Amala said her biggest concern was how writer-director Rathna Kumar would handle the subject and whether the nudity would serve the story rather than become its main focus. She further revealed that she spent almost two months understanding the team’s approach and agreed to do the film only after she was thoroughly convinced.

She said, "I needed to trust the director and the cinematographer. My whole thinking was, are these people up for making an aesthetic film where it is emotionally driven, or is it about nudity? Once I had the trust and was convinced that this was going to be creatively shot, it was a very beautiful creative process for all of us. They made me feel comfortable with minimal people on set."

Written and directed by Rathna Kumar and produced by V Studios, Aadai stars Amala Paul in the lead role alongside Ananya Ramaprasad, Vivek Prasanna and Ramya Subramanian. The film follows Kamini (Amala), a young and carefree television journalist whose life takes a drastic turn after a night of partying.

She wakes up alone and naked inside an abandoned building, with no idea what happened to her friends or how she ended up there. The film unfolds as a survival thriller, with Kamini desperately trying to find a way out while uncovering what happened the previous night.

Amala Paul's recent work

Amala was last seen on the big screen in 2024, when she featured in The Goat Life alongside Prithviraj Sukumaran and Jimmy Jean-Louis. Directed by Blessy, the film received critical acclaim and was a commercial success.

She was also seen in the Malayalam film Level Cross, which starred Asif Ali and Sharaf U Dheen in lead roles. The psychological drama was directed by Arfaz Ayub. Amala is yet to announce her next project.