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Interview: Amala Paul / Rathna Kumar (Aadai)
Posted on July 16, 2019
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Baradwaj Rangan 
brangan
July 16, 2019
This was a slightly tricky conversation. I HAD to talk about the nude scene in AADAI, but in a way that was respectful of the process — thanks to Amala Paul and Rathna Kumar for making it so easy.
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Rahini David
July 16, 2019
A very nice interview, BR.
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shaviswa
July 16, 2019
A very nice interview and both of them came across as pretty candid individuals with a clear head. Good probing questions BR – just like how the two handled the questions on sex and nudity well, you also handled the asking part very well by not making them feel queasy about it.
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bart
July 16, 2019
This interview was done very delicately and with grace. Very well done to all 3 of you – the conversation was seamless..
To use a Tamil cinema cliche, “mullu mela selai… adha azhaga kizhikkama eduthuteenga”..
Hoping for a good movie as well.
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Tina
July 16, 2019
Rangan sir, the bit where you referred to the nudity was really handled sensitively. Great!
But THAT bit where you spontaneously ask her if she refers to her significant other while making decisions reveals more about you than her, imho.
If that would have been in the context of this movie choice, which is where she came from, it wouldn’t have stood out. That she consults with her partner – namakkenna? That to me, seemed like a prying personal question, more than the nudity actually.
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Srinivas R
July 16, 2019
Very candid responses from Amala paul and Rathna. I really liked how she really got deep into to the kind of image we build about beauty, about being a “princess”. I think this movie comes from a honest place. All the best for the team.
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vinjk
July 17, 2019
I liked the interview. I am glad more and more mainstream actors are opting for sensible cinema. At least they are publicly stating that they don’t want mindless masala flicks.
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brangan
July 17, 2019
Tina: She brought up the partner thing out of the blue, and it made me curious how much (and in what capacity) he has contributed to the Amala 2.0 we are seeing here.
Hence that question (though I don’t know if it came out that way).
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Tina
July 17, 2019
Rangan sir, somehow, when you asked it, it was really spontaneous. It is not an evil or a demeaning question in any way. Or disrespectful, just that it’s really private and on the boundary, if you get what I mean. To me, it’s something along the lines of ‘would you have asked this if this were a man?’ Then I thought about it, and I have consumed quite a bit of your work – so I know that this was really innocuous and doesn’t warrant this line of questioning. Still personal though. And gossipy (and that’s the max it shows about you really). Didn’t mean to sound disrespectful with that comment!
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Kay
July 17, 2019
Very nice and sensible interview.
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shaviswa
July 17, 2019
@Tina – I think Amala Paul seeded that question from BR by mentioning about her partner and that she discussed the film with him before accepting. So I will not blame BR for asking that.
And about whether he would have asked a male actor along similar lines, why not? If a male actor is taking up a role that is quite against what a typical hero takes, and if he mentions about discussing with his wife, then this question is bound to come up.
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brangan
July 17, 2019
Added another small segment:
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sachita
July 18, 2019
I didnt feel anything odd about it. She brought up the discussion about it. And Male actors get asked about how their spouses react to intimate scenes too.
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Amit Joki
July 18, 2019
I don’t know why but I certainly felt empowered after viewing this interview somehow. My Twitter TL is a bubble where I saw encouraging signs for 90ML. I went to YouTube with high hopes of seeing some positive comments on the trailer but was I in for one rude shock.
That feeling of being empowered, as a collective society by the presence of people like Amala and Rathna came crashing down as soon as I read the utterly horrible comments.
Linkin Park’s “In the End” came to mind. Kudos to Amala for having stood her ground and I hope the film does well too. But irrespective of how it fares, Amala has gained a super fan in me. “Super” because I was already a fan.
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brangan
July 22, 2019
Another segment added:
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Anand Raghavan
July 23, 2019
BR
I have not seen the movie yet.
In general, I have this question for a long time. While we say cinema as an art is a make believe world where something need not be told or even showed, rather it is implied/understood. We have shunned graphic depiction of violence or a rape. But why should someone actually act nude to depict nudity though it may be required for core plot of the film.It could have been just suggested/indicated, isn’t it? Her struggles to overcome her extreme situation could have been effectively shot without her going bare right? I am sure a good actor/director/DoP combo would be able to do that
Even love making scenes in movies why should they be actually shot(how muchever aesthetically shot). Love between 2 people and the fact that they actually had physical intimacy to make people understand need not be actually shown is my humble opinion.
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brangan
July 24, 2019
Added another segment:
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shaviswa
July 24, 2019
Why is this being done in instalments?
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Sanjeev
August 21, 2019
Your interviews made me appreciate Aadai more. And retrospectively celebrate what I felt was just a good outing when I left the theatres.
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