Malavika Mohanan: The only thing that helps you get films is if you are a star kid

Actor Malavika Mohanan shot to instant fame when she was selected by acclaimed Iranian filmmaker Majid Majidi for his film, Beyond the Clouds. Before that, she had done Malayali films, such as Pattam Pole (her debut film in 2013), Nirnayakam (2015) and The Great Father (2017).

Not many people know that her father, KU Mohanan, is a well-known cinematographer, who has been a part of Bollywood films such as Don (2006) and Aaja Nachle (2007).

Ask her if that connection helped her bag good offers, and she says, “It didn’t help at all. The only thing that helps is if you are a star kid, that’s it. People want to see a big female superstar’s daughter or big male superstar’s daughter. That’s the whole idea, that’s the reason people are interested in them, because of their parents.”

She rues the fact that the sons and daughters of people working behind the camera aren’t made to feel so welcome compared to an actor’s offspring. “In fact, Majidi sir didn’t even know my father was part of the industry until 15 days into the shooting. It came up in a conversation, and he said he had no idea. So, it’s not like I got anything.”

Read more: Beyond The Clouds movie review: Not Majid Majidi’s best, Ishaan Khatter shines

Now that she has completed five years as an actor, looking back, did she always want to get into acting? “I wasn’t actively pursuing it, but my first film was offered to me by the legendary Malayali actor Mammootty (alongside) Dulquer Salmaan. The film came my way in my final year of college. That’s how I got into films,” she says.

The journey, Malavika adds, wasn’t as smooth as one would expect. “After the first film, I did a couple of more Malayali movies and then realised that I want to act and pursue this. I actively started doing work. And then I thought ‘If I am doing films, then I might as well do Hindi films as well’, but [getting into a] Hindi film is a long process for most people. It takes at least a couple of years to crack it. It’s a process, where you give auditions and have to network. You have to be at the right place at the right time,” Malavika explains.

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