How can you show you are sad without crying? This seemed to be one of the major challenges for Eden Kuriakose while playing the role of an ‘unreal’ character in Irukku Aana Illa. “It is a fantasy character, bubbly, adamant and sensitive. Very unlike me,” says Eden with a laugh. “Till the end of the movie, the suspense of whether the character is real or just a ghost wouldn’t be revealed. So I could not cry, play with with my dupatta or adjust my hair like any normal girl would do,” she adds.
Irukku Aana Illa is about a girl (played by Eden) who becomes part of a guy’s life (played by Vivanth) and how she refuses to leave him despite him calling manthravadis to ward her off.
The first two days of shooting had Eden confused as to what she should be doing to give the feel of the character. “It was only after Saravanan (debutant director) told me what I am doing is fine was I at ease,” she says. Yet another challenge came with the costume. Throughout the movie, Eden wears just one costume — a pink churidhar. “We had a big fight over the costume. In the end, producers from Kuwait had to come down and take me shopping,” she says.
A significant character in the movie, Eden says she had to be there for 48 of the 50 days of shooting — the other two days were dedicated to the shoot of the hero’s (Vivanth) intro song. “I come in almost all the frames,” she adds. Clearly, this has been the best pick for her when compared to her earlier projects — Aandava Perumal and Panivizhum Nilavu. So what next? “I had to gain weight for this movie, have fuller cheeks. Now I have to go dieting and work on reducing,” she says.