The green-eyed beauty with her unpretentious smile comes down as a simple and down-to-earth person. With no frills and fancies of an actor, Caroline Bech dressed in a pair of blue jeans, black tee and a red shrug is gung-ho about her maiden outing in Mollywood. She will be seen as the lead lady in upcoming Mammootty starrer ‘Manglish’. Ask her about the cinematic twist in her career, she says, “It was a totally unexpected turn in my life. Back in Holland, I used to work in films and commercials. I did a commercial for Easy Cook which was done by Mustafa Mohammed. He was Salam Bappu’s friend and when he heard Salam sir was in search of an actress to play a character in his film, Mustafa showed him the video. The director liked it and I also sent him some of my works. Even then, I felt that this was not going to happen.”
But it seems life had other plans for Caroline. Lady luck graced her and she made her first-ever visit to India two months back for the shoot of ‘Manglish’.
‘Manglish’ which is helmed by Salam Bappu is the director’s second outing, the first being ‘Red Wine’. This movie will be a family- oriented comic flick. The story unfolds in and around Kochi. Mammootty portrays the role of Malik Bhai, a fish auctioneer who is a true- blood Kochiite and totally clueless about the English language. His chance meeting with Michelle, essayed by Caroline and the interesting incidents that follow form the crux of the story. The Dutch beauty is verbose when asked about her character Michelle: “Michelle is a girl from England on a holiday with her boyfriend. She is a chilled out and super western person. Over the course of her stay, some unfortunate incidents take place and her paths cross Malik Bhai’s. Language however is one thing that is alien to both of them. Michelle doesn’t know Malayalam and Malik Bhai only knows his native tongue. Both the characters can’t keep themselves from getting into a fight with each other, while at the same time they need each other. There are many funny incidents that take place and add to the chemistry between them and add colour to the movie.”
Like Michelle, Caroline too had her own share of challenges while acting in ‘Manglish’. “Acting in ‘Manglish’ was like an adventure, mainly because of the language. It was tough for me to pick the language but everyone on the sets and Salam sir made me at ease. Since my character in the film had to face the same situations as I faced, it was easy for me to relate with Michelle,” says Caroline who did her masters in acting from a drama school in London.
For Caroline who has acted in films in Holland, her date with the Malayalam film industry was a novel experience. “Our film industry is small and mostly films are funded by the government. When I came here, the crowd that I saw during the shoot just made me stand in awe. In Holland, stars can roam around anywhere in public but seeing the fan following for Mammootty sir and how people celebrate films, was all a fascinating experience for me.”
Caroline also shares her excitement for acting with Mammootty. “Before I came here, I didn’t know much about the Malayalam industry and about the stars over here. But once I came and heard about Mammootty sir, I was tensed to share the screen with him because he is an actor who has acted in hundreds of films, so committing mistakes while acting was unthinkable. But right from day 1 he was extremely friendly. He made me feel comfortable and guided me through out the shoot. He does everything so well and in one take...it was all a great learning experience for me,” says Caroline who got the hang of Mollywood after watching movies like ‘Red Wine’, ‘Gangster’ and ‘Paleri Manikyam: Oru Pathirakolapathakathinte Katha’. “I liked ‘Paleri Manikyam’ very much for its realistic approach,” she adds.
Another interesting and challenging thing for Caroline was to say dialogues in Malayalam. “I do have a few dialogues in Malayalam. Understanding its meaning and pronouncing it was another challenge but I enjoyed it all the same,” says Caroline.
Caroline who is currently busy with the dubbing works is looking forward for the release of the film. Meanwhile, she is exploring Kerala and its culture. “I like being here. There is a rich food culture too. I like all the ‘thorans’, beetroot curry, ‘avial’ and ‘fish molly’ in Kerala cuisine,” adds Caroline who now likes to accessorise herself with bindis and bangles.
