‘Puzhu’ is about a resonant subject in the present, says Parvathy
The Hindu
Starring Parvathy and Mammootty, the film releases on May 13 on SonyLIV
Parvathy Thiruvothu is shooting in Hyderabad for Dootha, her first work in Telugu, when I call her to talk about Puzhu, dropping on SonyLIV on May 13.
“For the longest possible time, I have wanted to work in a film with supernatural elements. The Telugu film industry has always handled it so well and take the genre seriously. I am excited about this outing. I am a great fan of horror films and now I get to work in one,” says Parvathy, who also hopes to dub for her character.
Directed by Vikram Kumar, Dootha, a web series has Naga Chaitanya and Priya Bhavani Shankar in the cast.
Moving on to her Malayalam film, Puzhu, she says most people ask her the reason for such a title Puzhu, which means worm in Malayalam. “But if you see the trailer, towards the end, a character says that on the seventh day a special guest comes to tell the story, a puzhu. One understands that the term puzhu has come from a story-telling. In Puzhu there are a lot of metaphors for what actually happens in the film and, for me, there is a larger political context from the film.”
Directed by debutant Ratheena PT and scripted by Harshad, Suhas and Sharfudheen, the film has Parvathy and Mammootty working together for the first time.
When Harshad phoned Parvathy and told her there was a story, he added that Mammootty was in the lead. Parvathy readily agreed to work in the film. “I wondered why that was even a question. And when I heard that Ratheena was directing it, I was enthused by the thought of working with her,” she explains.
Parvathy points out that often when women make films, there is a genre they are typecast into – light-hearted ones, family dramas.... Ratheena makes her debut as a director after years of experience in the production space and her film cannot be categorised into those boxes. “She is one of the most clear-headed human beings I have met. I have enjoyed watching her shift from an executive producer in Uyare to my director in Puzhu. It was enthusing to watch her evolve as a director.”