Speaking Madurai Tamil was tough: Aparna Balamurali

In an interview to DT Next, actress Aparna Balamurali says her character Bommi in Suriya’s Soorarai Pottru will be on a par with the hero’s and also talks about how she pulled off Madurai Tamil slang in the dubbing

Madurai Tamil needed an extra bit of effort and people on the sets helped me. It was quite challenging for actors from Tamil Nadu to master it immediately

Aparna Balamurali caught everyone’s attention when the trailer of Soorarai Pottru released a few days ago. You normally do not expect that to happen when your costar is Suriya. “But the director is Sudha Kongara and she made it possible. Ritika Singh was lauded in Iruddhi Suttru when her co-star was Maddy. In Soorarai Pottru, my role as Bommi will have equal weightage to that of Maara’s. She plays a supportive character, who helps Maara set up Air Deccan,” the actress begins. Aparna says that she landed this role because of GV Prakash.

“We worked together in Sarvam Thaala Maayam and it was he who recommended my name to Sudha ma’am. She had seen me in Maheshinte Prathikaaram and had liked my performance. Since Iruddhi Suttru, I wanted to work with her as well. So, she gave me a scene, which I recorded and sent it to her. That’s how I bagged the role,” she reveals. Though Sudha, according to Suriya and Aparna was the busiest person on the sets, the actress says that shooting for the film was a fun experience. “There is Urvashi ma’am, Vivek Prasanna, and others who made the entire experience a memorable one. Sudha had to look after a lot of things but we had fun,” she smiles. However, talking Madurai Tamil dialect wasn’t a cakewalk for Aparna. “It is not the normal Tamil that we speak. Madurai Tamil needed an extra bit of effort and people on the sets helped me. It was quite challenging for actors from Tamil Nadu to master it immediately. Sudha gave us a specific meter and we cannot exceed it. We had to maintain it. While I dubbed, she was next to me and helped me in pulling it off,” she remarks.

Having been a part of a Rajiv Menon film, followed by Sudha Kongara-Suriya project, what’s next for Aparna? “Here comes the most difficult part. Be it Tamil or Malayalam, I will decide the directors with whom I want to work it. I am going to say ‘no’ to a lot of them, which is the most difficult thing in this industry. I hope decisions I make will be worth it,” she concludes.