I was mistaken for a sales girl: Muktha

Malayali actress Muktha has been bagging roles alongside many top Kollywood stars of late. In her next film Pambu Sattai, she shares screen with Bobby Simha, who just grabbed the National Award for Best Supporting actor. The movie is directed by debutant Adam, and Muktha plays a widow named Shivani, who is Bobby’s sister-in-law. Though she had doubts about taking up such a role, Muktha says Shivani offered her a handful of memorable moments.“Though I have been taking up character roles in Malayalam of late, I have played only heroine roles in Tamil so far. So when I was offered this role in Pambu Sattai, my first response was in the negative. However, the makers quoted many examples of how actresses like Revathy and Sukanya have taken up such roles of substance in the past and encouraged me,” she says and adds, “In the movie, Shivani’s happiness is of prime importance to Bobby’s character. Moreover, unlike the oft-seen white sari-clad widows, Shivani conducts herself as a normal woman, who also sports a bindi.” Shivani is a sales girl in a jewellery shop and director Adam apparently captured many scenes in a showroom where Muktha was asked to conduct herself as just another sales girl. “During certain long shots, many customers did not notice that shooting was going on. People thought I am a sales girl, as I too stood there spotting a uniform and they came up to me for guidance. I went with the flow talking to them, getting them drinks, et al,” the actress says, laughing. Muktha also recalls a similar experience while shooting a scene with hidden camera for Pambu Sattai in a train. “My character lives near a railway track in the film. We had to capture scenes of walking near the track as the train passes, and travelling with local people. As I looked very different in the getup, people often didn’t recognize me. However, there were also those who came up to me asking whether I am Bhanu’s (her character in the popular Tamil film Thaamirabharani) sister. I look slimmer now as compared to my appearance while I shot for that film and I guess that is the reason,” says Muktha. Muktha has also signed up Vasuvum Saravananum Onnaa Padichavanka directed by Rajesh, in which she acts with Arya, Thamannaah and Santhanam. “I play Santhanam’s wife’s character, a woman with a bit of ego. However, it has no element of comedy,” she signs off.