Amala’s Sainu days

hen Amala Paul came on board

Aadujeevitham, she says, she was expecting a starter but what she got in return was a huge spread, dessert included. “Being part of a project with AR Rahman, Resul Pookutty, A Sreekar Prasad, Blessy…” Amala cannot keep the excitement out of her voice as she talks about

Aadujeevitham. The film, based on the eponymous Malayalam novel by Benyamin, has Prithviraj Sukumaran in the lead. It releases on March 28.

The film has been a long time coming; the filming started in 2018 but the pandemic delayed the project. But she sees the delay as working in its favour, growing into what it has become — one of Malayalam cinema’s most anticipated films.

“Aadujeevitham started as a ‘normal’ film, but it has now become this huge film. Over the years [since filming to release]

Wcinema too has evolved and changed. This film’s scope and space have grown so much. Blessy has used the time to perfect the film and update it!” She is ‘super grateful’ about having been able to be a part of this project.

Her journey to becoming Sainu coincided with her spiritual journey; the film came to her when she was looking inward, travelling to the Himalayas, exploring yoga and meditation. She first read the novel, sent to her by the film’s team, on a flight from Delhi to Kochi.

Spiritual journey

Not only did the book overwhelm her but was also a validation of her spiritual journey. Najeeb’s struggles in, and with, the desert resonated with her and she knew she wanted to be a part of the film. “By the time Blessyettan called asking me to do Sainu’s character, narrated the story and told me what he wanted…I wanted to be in it.”

Sainu’s character in the film here is excitement in Dr. Awungshi Philamazan’s words as she talks about how she completed level one of a course for offroaders. The proud owner of a Force Gurkha, a fourwheel drive, she says she has been driving a 4x4 since she was 18.

On March 8, she joined nine other women in the city, all owners of 4WDs (four wheel drive) to go on a ride from the city to Kovalam.

Thas more space, unlike in the novel which tells the story of a Malayali migrant to West Asia, Najeeb Muhammad, who is trapped in a desert in the middle of nowhere as a goatherd.

Preparing to be Sainu was not very difficult although it was, in 2018, one of her most ‘feminine’ roles. “At that point, this was my first Muslim character. There

AMALA PAUL

In top gear

Christening themselves the Jeeper Girls of Trivandrum,the women say what brings them together is obviously their love for the rugged fourwheel drive.

“All eyes were on our vehicles as we drove to Kovalam. Four of us are proud owners of Mahindra Thar. That is what made me think of a community like this,” says Dr. Asha Biju. Another factor that gave Asha