Meena Kumari Perera, who is the first Sri Lankan to act in an Indian art film, has won kudos for her portrayal of a mute in a challenging role opposite superstar Mammootty in the award-winning Malayalam film ‘Kutty Srank’.
“There is a tendency in Indian films to exaggerate and over act when playing a mute. But Meena Kumari did not over act. She was competent,” said Shaji N Karun, the internationally acclaimed director of the film released in 2010.
Karun said: “Her facial expressions were perfect. Timing is of the essence in acting and Meena Kumari showed a perfect sense of timing. For me, talent stems from intelligence, and she is intelligent.”
The ace director said,“I was looking for a completely new face. I was looking for a female of a particular age-group for the role of Kali, the wife of the middle aged protagonist. I had to look outside India because in the Indian film industry today, it has become difficult to get slightly older women to take challenging, woman-centred, roles. The blame for this has to be laid at the door of Bollywood, with its obsession with youth and entertainment, and lack of intellectual content. Bollywood is male-centred and regional cinema has followed suit.”
Karun said,“Thanks to my contact Ashley in Colombo, I saw DVDs of her performances in Lankan films and TV serials. I was convinced that she had the required talent. Another feature which impressed me was that she was the only candidate who came in a sari. She looked the type I was looking for. Intuition told me she was the one.”
Meena Kumari was keen on taking up the role. “I had to bring out the inner struggle of the uncommon character only through facial expressions. It was a challenging and memorable experience,” she said. Rapport with Karun was instant. “I had seen his film Piravi earlier. His cinematic language, which uses traditional imagery, appealed to me,” the Lankan actress said.