Malayalam Films Give Importance To Scripts Rather Than Heroes: Aditi Balan

Aruvi actress Aditi Balan made her Malayalam acting debut with Amazon Prime Video original Cold Case, alongside Prithviraj Sukumaran, in 2021. However, the first Malayalam film she signed and filmed was Liju Krishna’s upcoming film Padavettu, featuring Nivin Pauly. “We shot in 2019 but then the COVID-19 lockdown happened. When Liju narrated the story to me, I felt it was a very relatable subject,” the actress says in a conversation with Anupriya Raj.

She adds that a lot of effort has been put into making the film. “Every one of us goes through an identity crisis, especially when we are in our 30s. Even though I am doing movies, there is always this question of, ‘what’s next?’ The film explores that journey and how to fight out of it. So, I felt it was a very interesting script.”

Going by the trailer, Balan appears to play a mature, bold woman with Shaima, and the actress agrees. “Shaima goes through a journey that is different from everybody else’s. Only after that, she retorts, “I will decide what I want to do.” — the dialogue you see in the trailer,” the actress says.

In an earlier interview, Balan told Film Companion that with every film, she tries to break the limitations in her acting. With Padavettu, for instance, the actress says she got to explore romance for the first time. She says, “I haven’t done romance before, I think we first shot the ‘Mazha Pattu’ song. I was very nervous but later I realised that it’s very easy.”

She adds that she is not looking for only female-centric films. What matters to her is how much her character contributes to the storyline. “If the role is only for 5 minutes but the character is important, I will do it. I am not looking for an eye candy-type character.”

For someone who has worked in Tamil, Telugu, and Malayalam film industries, Aditi says she has always been attracted to Malayalam movies. “Since my childhood, I have been watching Malayalam cinema. Even though my first film was Tamil, my dream was to do more films in Malayalam. I like that the script is given more importance than the hero or heroine in Malayalam movies.”

But she asserts that the pay difference between genders is commonly present across all three industries. “The truth is that the pay is less everywhere and there is a huge gap. I sometimes tell my male actor friends that I am not getting what they are getting. Hopefully, this changes, as many people are talking about this,” the actress concludes.