Showing posts with label Padmapriya. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Padmapriya. Show all posts
We have put all our cards on the table, and there is no going back-Padmapriya
10:43 AM
Janakiraman became central to this conversation because, nearly 11 years ago, she too, had been the victim of inappropriate behaviour by a director named Samy, who slapped her on the sets of a Tamil film
Jane Borges (MID-DAY; December 30, 2018)
Long before the #MeToo and #TimesUp movement gained steam in Bollywood, a storm had started brewing down South. Helming this campaign were leading South Indian actors Revathi, Parvathy and Padmapriya Janakiraman, who had come together to start the Women in Cinema Collective (WCC). Instituted a few months after one of their female colleagues was abducted and brutally assaulted in February last year, WCC became formidable force, when they spearheaded a campaign in June this year, to protest the reinstatement of actor Dileep - allegedly involved in the assault - to the Association of Malayalam Movie Artists (AMMA).
"The degree of victim shaming, and the number of people casting aspersions at her, was shocking," says Delhi-based Janakiraman. That they were challenging the decision of its president, Malayalam superstar Mohanlal, set the tone straight - they were fighting for the right to equality.
Janakiraman became central to this conversation because, nearly 11 years ago, she too, had been the victim of inappropriate behaviour by a director named Samy, who slapped her on the sets of a Tamil film. "He later tried to defend himself by arguing that he wanted me to cry as the scene demanded it," she recalls with a laugh. But Janakiraman took him head-on. He was later banned by the Federation of Film Employees of South India (FEFSI) and the Producers' Council from making films for a year.
For Janakiraman, it was also a time of reckoning. "I came from a cosmopolitan Army background, where my parents treated me and my brother as equals. Later, when I joined the movies, I also had a day job as a risk analyst; I did that for more than four years. So, even though I, as an actress, wasn't being paid on par with the male actors, it never directly affected me," says Janakiraman. But, it hit home, after she took a break from her film career to pursue an MBA from NYU. "When I returned, I felt that all these directors, who I otherwise thought were great to work with, were patriarchal and sexist."
Post the Dileep incident, WCC helped take this conversation one step further. "All we wanted to do was create a space that assimilates and understands us. Our organisation wants to have a women-friendly environment, where there are equal opportunities for all. We hope to provide them [female colleagues] with counsellors, networking, legal aid or just a friend to talk to, so that they don't feel alienated," says Janakiraman.
Unfortunately, it's not been rosy. "Ever since we became part of WCC, a lot of us have been denied work opportunities. When I meet a colleague now, I can sense that they are uncomfortable around me; I have to remind them, that 'hey, I have a whole decade of a relationship with you'. Having said that, we have put all our cards on the table, and there is no going back."
With Chef, it's the return of the Saif Ali Khan we have loved in the past-Raja Krishna Menon
8:10 AM
Avinash Lohana (MUMBAI MIRROR; September 4, 2017)
Raja Krishna Menon was
shooting the Akshay Kumar and Nimrat Kaur-star rer Airlift in Jodhpur
when producer Vikram Malhotra approached him with the gastronomical
comedy Chef. Raja was self-admittedly excited as he loves travelling,
food, and has a son, the mainstays of the official Hindi remake of the
Jon Favreau Hollywood film. But he'd only worked with original scripts
before amd wondered how he would make it different, admitting Chef was a
much harder film to shoot. “It's far more emotional than Airlift and
was a cathartic experience as I was trying to understand a father-son
relationship,“ he says.
Raja is a hands-on parent to son Yannick but he hardly knew his own father. “I have had no relationship with my father. He walked away from us when I was less than a year old and I've only met him a few times. My mother brought me up. I grew up in a home full of women - my mother, sister and aunt. When you grow up without something, you don't know if you are missing it or not,“ he says.
And just how similar is this film to the original? “Only that the protagonist is a chef and there is a food truck. Saif's (Ali Khan) character explores his life more closely as he returns to India to be with his son, then retraces his steps to the journey that made him a chef. It's the return of the Saif we have loved in the past,“ he exclaims. “He's playing a character he is true to and is definitely very relatable to professional India.“
Raja spent a month-and-a-half with Saif before the film rolled as the actor prepped for a few hours, four to five times in a week, to get the body language of a chef right. “It was important as his character works in a top restaurant and it was a basic requirement for him to look like a chef and understand the kitchen. My assistants and I shot a couple of real life chefs as they went about their daily business and watched them closely.“
Saif also underwent cooking lessons. “He makes the best aglio olio pasta, a simple recipe with only garlic, chilli and olive oil. We also got to indulge in local delicacies while shooting in Kerala and New York,“ says the director, revealing that the first time they were trying to make something in a suburban hotel's kitchen, they ended up putting the lobster in the pasta without cooking it properly.
The food truck that features in the film prominently took two-and-half-months of prep as it had to be a functional kitchen as well as conducive for shooting. “It used to get extremely hot and people would stop on the roads to look at it,“ Raja recalls.
He refutes rumours that Saif's better half Kareena Kapoor has a guest spot though she did visit the sets and hung out for a few days. In their quest for authenticity, they commissioned South actress Padmapriya to play the leading lady, a Malayalee Bharatanatyam dancer. The hardest part was casting the child actor to play Saif's son, which, after three months, finally drew to a close with 11-year-old Svar Kamble. “I wanted someone more intelligent than precocious, someone relatable and with a sense of responsibility. We screen-tested nearly 200 students, narrowing it down to 50, and did workshops with them. The first time I saw Svar's screen test, I knew he was the right boy. He is incredibly talented and really expressive for his age,“ Raja marvels, recounting how a nervous Svar tried hard to impress his onscreen father. “Saif broke the ice really fast and by the second meeting they had become friendly.“
Raja is a hands-on parent to son Yannick but he hardly knew his own father. “I have had no relationship with my father. He walked away from us when I was less than a year old and I've only met him a few times. My mother brought me up. I grew up in a home full of women - my mother, sister and aunt. When you grow up without something, you don't know if you are missing it or not,“ he says.
And just how similar is this film to the original? “Only that the protagonist is a chef and there is a food truck. Saif's (Ali Khan) character explores his life more closely as he returns to India to be with his son, then retraces his steps to the journey that made him a chef. It's the return of the Saif we have loved in the past,“ he exclaims. “He's playing a character he is true to and is definitely very relatable to professional India.“
Raja spent a month-and-a-half with Saif before the film rolled as the actor prepped for a few hours, four to five times in a week, to get the body language of a chef right. “It was important as his character works in a top restaurant and it was a basic requirement for him to look like a chef and understand the kitchen. My assistants and I shot a couple of real life chefs as they went about their daily business and watched them closely.“
Saif also underwent cooking lessons. “He makes the best aglio olio pasta, a simple recipe with only garlic, chilli and olive oil. We also got to indulge in local delicacies while shooting in Kerala and New York,“ says the director, revealing that the first time they were trying to make something in a suburban hotel's kitchen, they ended up putting the lobster in the pasta without cooking it properly.
The food truck that features in the film prominently took two-and-half-months of prep as it had to be a functional kitchen as well as conducive for shooting. “It used to get extremely hot and people would stop on the roads to look at it,“ Raja recalls.
He refutes rumours that Saif's better half Kareena Kapoor has a guest spot though she did visit the sets and hung out for a few days. In their quest for authenticity, they commissioned South actress Padmapriya to play the leading lady, a Malayalee Bharatanatyam dancer. The hardest part was casting the child actor to play Saif's son, which, after three months, finally drew to a close with 11-year-old Svar Kamble. “I wanted someone more intelligent than precocious, someone relatable and with a sense of responsibility. We screen-tested nearly 200 students, narrowing it down to 50, and did workshops with them. The first time I saw Svar's screen test, I knew he was the right boy. He is incredibly talented and really expressive for his age,“ Raja marvels, recounting how a nervous Svar tried hard to impress his onscreen father. “Saif broke the ice really fast and by the second meeting they had become friendly.“
South actress Padmapriya to play Saif Ali Khan's ex-wife in Chef?
7:47 AM
South actress Padmapriya has been roped in to play the leading lady in the Raja Krishna Menon-directed comedy-drama
Natasha Coutinho (MUMBAI MIRROR; October 19, 2016)
Mirror (October 15) had earlier reported about Saif Ali Khan kicking off Raja Krishna Menon’s upcoming comedy-drama, Chef, in Kochi. Now, we hear that National Award-winning South actress Padmapriya has come on board to play his ex-wife.
“Padmapriya plays a professional Bharatnatyam dancer who lives in Kerala so we’re currently filming her portions with Saif here. She is a Bharatnatyam dancer herself,” Raja informed Mirror.
After the Kochi schedule, the team will shoot in several locations across India including Goa, Gujarat, Rajasthan, Punjab and Delhi and aim to wrap up work by December so that Saif gets to be by wife Kareena Kapoor’s side to welcome their baby.
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