Malavika Mohanan on ‘Maaran’: Working with Dhanush was like an acting workshop

Ahead of Maaran, Malavika Mohanan discusses the film and what being part of star-driven films has taught her about commercial cinema

Malavika Mohanan understands the power of commercial cinema. She knows these are the projects that will help her reach the masses and put her in the spotlight, even if she has very little to offer in the larger scheme of things

This is what happened with last year’s Master, wherein her wafer-thin character was criticised, despite favourable reviews. Because of Master, she landed an offer as the female lead in Maaran, directed by Karthick Naren and starring Dhanush.

She candidly admits that when Karthick Naren narrated the script to her, she said ‘yes’ primarily for the canvas and the opportunity to act with Dhanush. Excerpts from an edited interview:

Doing a film like Master will make people notice you. There are films I have done previously where my work had received critical acclaim but that did not translate into more work.

Karthick was still working on the script when he narrated it.

For any film to begin with, it has to have a good set of makers. Otherwise, it is not going to reach the right people; it is not going to get the right kind of release and marketing. All of these business elements are also very important. So it was the team that made me say ‘yes’.

I have a very interesting character compared to what I have played in my previous two films in Tamil. She has a lot more weight and has some agency which is rare to find for female actors in star-driven films.