“Comali is a satirical comedy on today’s evolution and technology and focuses on how things have changed over the years with people drifting away from families, living life in mobile phones. I liked this concept very much,” says actress Kajal Aggarwal, who is back in Kollywood after Mersal with Comali.
Directed by debutant Pradeep Ranganathan, Comali stars Jayam Ravi in the lead role along with Samyuktha Hegde as the other heroine. Music is by Hip Hop Tamizha Adhi and camera by Richard M Nathan. The movie is all set for release 15 August.
This movie is also the first-time that Jayam Ravi and Kajal Aggarwal act together in a film and speaking to News TodayĀ about it, the actress says, “We got offers to act together sometime ago but they did not materialise. I am happy that I have now worked with him. He is very talented and a thorough professional.”
Excerpts from the interview:
Q: What is Comali all about? What attracted you to the film?
A: Comali is a full-fledged entertainer. the whole film is basically very relevant to today’s society. It is a satirical comedy on today’s evolution and technology and focuses on how things have changed over the years with people drifting away from families, living life in mobile phones. I liked this concept very much. I work as a museum curator in the film.
Q: How was it to act with Jayam Ravi for the first time?
A: I don’t know why we have not worked together before. We got offers to act together sometime ago but they did not materialise. I am happy that I have now worked with him. He is very talented and a thorough professional. I look forward to working with him again in future.
Q: With many women-centric films being made currently, will you do more of female-oriented films from now?
A: Paris Paris is fully my film and I really enjoyed a film like that which was a challenge. I like to do more women-centric films but whatever offers I have got so far are only for horror films. I don’t want to do only horror and get stuck in a genre. There are so many different genres that I want to try. I have heard many scripts and I am waiting for the right script.
Q: How challenging was it to reproduce a role done by Kangana Ranaut in Queen for Paris Paris?
A: The thought was difficult because it was a challenge to accept doing the role in the first place. Kangana has won national award for it and she is such an established actress and has done a role like Queen so nicely that if anyone tries to redo it, it will be taking a big risk. So, it was a risk factor for me but I tried to make it my own. I adapted it to my own style and Tamil sensibilities as a Virudhunagar girl in the film. I tried to make it local and did not watch Queen after I got the film as I did not want to be influenced. I tried to do it in my own way.
Q: Manjima Mohan and Tamannaah are doing the same role in Malayalam and Telugu. So while shooting, did you discuss with each other about the role?
A: Manjima is a very sweet girl and so is Tamannaah. Tamannaah is a good friend of mine. It was nice to interact with the girls and everyone had their own perspective and style of doing the film. I only discussed things with Tamannah since I am close to her otherwise we didn’t give any input to each other because everyone wanted to keep it her own way.
Q: What are your upcoming films?
A: I will join the sets of Indian 2 in November. I am very excited to work with Shankar sir and Kamal sir. I have started training for the film by learning Kalaripayattu. I am also doing a bilingual film which is in English as well as Telugu with Vishnu Manchu as the producer. The whole crew is from Hollywood. It is an Indian story which will release all over the world.
Q: Tell us more about the Kalaripayattu training you are currently undertaking.
A: It is very difficult: you have to act like an animal. I am learning it from a school in Kerala. I have been practising it for two to three hours per day. It is very tiring, but I want to learn it.