I was almost written off: Parvathy Thiruvothu on completing 20 years in Malayalam cinema on her terms

I was almost written off: Parvathy Thiruvothu on completing 20 years in Malayalam cinema on her terms

New Delhi, Actor Parvathy Thiruvothu says she would have been written off for speaking her mind but her stubbornness and the "sacred bond" she shares with Malayalam audience have kept her relevant for two decades.

I was almost written off: Parvathy Thiruvothu on completing 20 years in Malayalam cinema on her terms

Though she is aware that speaking out comes at a certain cost, the actor said she cannot imagine living in a world where she has influence and chooses not to use it to make it a better place.

"There are people who don't like me at all who think that if I had shut my mouth, then they would have gone and watched my movies. But it is easier for me because of the Malayalam audience. They may love you, hate you or ignore you but if you deliver a good movie, they will always make you a success. It is almost like a sacred bond.

"And without this, I would have been written off from the industry. I know people in other industries who have stood up and they have been written off fully. I was almost written off... I was at the edge but I built a house there. This is my stubbornness, I'm not going to leave," the actor told PTI in an interview.

In "Pradhama Drishtya Kuttakkar", Parvathy plays single mother Aleena Abraham who gets the job of a cop after her husband dies on duty. She and her colleagues are caught in a case and a cat and mouse game ensues between her group and another cop investigating a robbery gone wrong.

Known for hits such as "Out of Syllabus", "Notebook", "Bengaluru Days", "Take Off", "Uyare", "Virus" and Hindi film "Qarib Qarib Singlle", Parvathy said Malayalam cinema has never tried to fit into a category.

"You can have some of the biggest names in a movie and biggest budget in a movie and it will not work if it does not hit them in their heart. And that's true for all the super hit Malayalam films. I knew 'Pradhama Drishtya Kuttakkar' would be a good movie. But the level of reception was unexpected," she said.

Parvathy, 38, was at the centre of a social media storm in 2016 for criticising Malayalam film "Kasaba" for one of its scenes that she deemed misogynistic. Her remarks led to vicious trolling at the time and the issue still crops up on social media occasionally.

Recalling the vitriol she faced for her comments, Parvathy said the point she was trying to make was lost at the time.

"I hoped that we will reach a point where we don't see 'female-oriented movies'. It just happens to be that the lead is a woman and we are seeing her story. We don't see 'male-oriented movies'. We consider that as a default. So my hope and my dream is that we arrive at such an equitable space of storytelling that we don't orient a movie towards a gender, caste or a religion for that matter."

Asked how she deals with social media negativity, Parvathy said she believes in speaking her mind whatever the consequences may or may not be.

"The obstacle match continues because I am never backing down. In a parallel universe, Parvathy is like Aleena who cannot give up. The stake for me is too high. What are the stakes in my life? It is that I have people who have daughters and sons growing up. So that, for me, is a higher stake.

"If you look at it, actors, filmmakers, artists will always have ups and downs. They can't always stay up. Whether we are political or so-called apolitical, which is not a thing according to me, we have to face failure. I might as well be on the right side of history. It's not like the apolitical people have been safe from failures, or hatred and trolling."

The actor said while she can handle the trolling and abuse most of the times, there are moments when it becomes difficult.

"When it moves to the realm of death threats and rape threats and those kind of completely criminal activities or stalking, you start living with a kind of fear," said Parvathy.

The actor has also been at the forefront in the fight for an equitable space for women artists in Malayalam cinema. She is one of the founding members of Women in Cinema Collective , an organisation that was formed in 2017 in the aftermath of the abduction and assault of a well-known actor.

She still remembers that when she joined the industry 20 years ago, she was told to do song and dance movies, item songs and make money because a heroine's shelf life was supposed to be short.

"I was very young. I thought, 'Oh, is that so? But I don't want to do this'. So, I created my own path. Now, the funny part of this is that the times have changed. Everybody who seemed to have been kept away has come back. Now, we have Konkona Sensharma and Radhika Apte in a film called 'Lust Stories'.

"I'm like all the women that you put in age brackets and made their identity about their gender and age are back telling beautiful stories," she said.

Is a return to Hindi cinema also on the cards for Parvathy?

"I am grateful that I can speak five languages at this point and do movies in all five languages. And it's phenomenal that I get that opportunity and hopefully everyone does. I heard in a news press conference that Kareena wishes to work in Malayalam. I'm like, 'Wonderful, let's do that'," said the actor, who dubbed for Kareena for the Malayalam version of Meghna Gulzar's crime drama movie "Daayra".

This article was generated from an automated news agency feed without modifications to text.