Back in 2007, Malayalam movie actresses were slowly coming out of their moulds and taking small steps to carry themselves off in some hep and happenin’ styles on screen. But then, one non-Malayali actress came and showed what it was like to be a true blue earthy beauty. With pastel-shaded sarees and big round bindis, Vimala Raman stole our hearts.
This doe-eyed beauty was one of those few actresses who shared a screen space with all of the leading actors of Malayalam industry and delivered some real good performances in a short time. Despite a hiatus of few years, she is still one of the most recognised faces in the industry. Vimala is, however, back to act opposite ace actor Mohanlal in Priyadarshan’s latest venture Oppam. The actress is in Kochi shooting for Oppam.
Speaking about the movie and her role Vimala says, “The movie is a suspense-thriller. I believe everyone knows that Lal sir (Mohanlal) plays a visually-impaired in the film. So it’s a very interesting script and I play the female lead.
“One cannot call this a typical pattern of a love story with something to go on with it. My character is involved way more into the plot. The whole plot is sort of surrounded by me or rather created by me. At this point, I cannot exactly reveal what I am playing but it will be interesting and very different. I play a simple and very real character. I've never done something like this. It is fun and a really great experience for me.”
So was it worth the wait? “The way Priyan sir has been taking the film is really great. Every shot counts when it comes to a suspense thriller. This is the kind of project I have been waiting for to make my comeback.”
This is not Vimala’s first suspense-thriller though. Being one amongst the most popular actress in other South Indian film industry, suspense-thrillers comes with the package, “I have done suspense thriller in Kannda and Telugu as well. But then again this is a role I have never done before. This definitely is a challenging role, not in a way that I find it difficult to play. I think Priyan sir is a director with whom all actors would like to work with. He doesn’t want you to act, he wants you to be normal and react. It's been a real nice learning curve for me as well to work with such a senior director.”
Lately to everyone’s surprise it was learnt that one of Kalabhavan Mani’s last movie was with Vimala. Clarifying about it she says, “That movie was shot many years back. In fact, It should have been released four years ago. I don’t know why the filmmakers are choosing this time for the release, it is quite a surprise for me. I’m not sure what is going on with that movie. Oppam is my return film.”
Why such a long break from Malayalam films? “Actually it’s not even a break, I’ve been working in other languages. It was not an intentional gap from Malayalam. After my last movie with Lal sir (Mohanlal), College Kumaran, I worked in Tamil and went straight to Telugu and later did Mumbai Mirror in Hindi, it was non-stop set of films. In between, I used to get offers, either the date clashed or it wasn’t the right project. I kept waiting for the right film.When this project fell into my lap, I was very excited to do this and make my come back with it.”
A dancer by heart and an actor by profession, Vimala believes in picking roles with lot of importance and substance in it. “One scene is enough to hold an audience. Something should be there to grasp their attention. I always try to look for a bigger scope.”
