Director Alphonse Puthren’s Malayalam film Premam, which released in the UAE on June 11, has shattered records and is the highest collecting film in the history of Malayalam cinema, according to trade analysts. Premam is running to packed houses everywhere with many watching it multiple times, and it remains in UAE cinemas this week, too.
While lead star Nivin Pauly, as George, carried the film on his shoulders, he’s complemented by three young actresses making their film debuts: Anupama Parameswaran, Sai Pallavi and Madonna Sebastian.
Parameswaran’s curly locks, ridiculed by George’s friends for resembling a beehive, lend her a distinct and unconventional look. A second-year college student from Kottayam, Parameswaran has been thrust into the limelight and is enjoying every moment of fame.
“It feels good when I am recognised and people come up to take a selfie with me,” said Parameswaran, who credits it all to her “talented director Alphonse,” and “co-actor Pauly, a down-to-earth guy.”
Parameswaran has received offers to do more films but she is biding her time for the right role.
Another debutante, Madonna Sebastian, least expected a call from director Alphonse Puthren last year asking her to meet him at Fort Kochi.
“It was the occasion of Thiruvonam [Kerala’s harvest festival],” remembered Sebastian. “I was running a fever that day.”
Eager to meet Puthren, she reached the venue and within ten minutes of her meeting, she landed the role of Celine, the third woman in George’s life. “I had no idea that this was coming. While getting ready for the shot, I asked Alphonse if I should comb my hair first, he told me to let it be the way it was. It was for the scene where Celine walks into George’s bakery on a rainy night. He did not want me looking all dressed up.”
Sebastian has been hosting television shows since she was in grade nine so facing the camera was not intimidating.
Referring to Puthren as an intelligent director, this commerce graduate said, “He believed in spontaneous acting and that helped in bringing out Celine, who is a lot like me.”
Trained in Carnatic and Western music, Sebastian sang a number last year for Roopesh Pitambaran’s Malayalam film, You Too Brutus.
She will soon be making her Tamil debut in a film directed by Nalan Kumarasamy and is paired opposite Vijay Sethupathy.
“It’s a breezy romantic story. My character is unlike Celine.”
