Beast of a beginning
In today’s world dominated by social media, you can never tell when good fortune will shine on you. Take, for example, Aparna Das. The Muscat-based MBA graduate bagged her debut film, Njan Prakashan, after veteran Malayalam director Sathyan Anthikad was impressed by one of her TikTok videos. Despite following it up with a lead role in Manoharam, it was once again a photo she uploaded on social media that opened the gates to the Tamil industry. And this time, she landed Vijay’s Beast. “Instagram has helped me. The team saw one of my pictures and contacted me,” says the actor.
For someone who made her debut as a heroine, was it hard having to settle for a supporting role? “Yes, my aim is to play the lead, but I couldn’t have asked for a better launch in Tamil than Beast. I knew everyone would watch it. Moreover, I got the chance to interact with people like Vijay sir, Nelson sir, and Pooja (Hegde).”
Hailing from Kerala where Vijay is celebrated like a home-grown star, it is natural that Aparna is eloquent in praise for the star. “My family and friends consider me extremely lucky for having worked with Vijay sir. Some of them are even jealous. I’ve been watching his films since childhood. He treated everyone well and ensured their comfort.”
‘Luck’ is a word Aparna keeps repeating throughout the conversation, and the actor was particularly fortunate to have celebrated her 27th birthday on the sets of Beast, when Vijay took her along with crew members on a drive in his Rolls-Royce. “He comes in a different car each day. On my birthday, he brought his Rolls-Royce, and it was Sathish who asked Vijay sir for a ride in it. I feel lucky that it happened on my birthday.” She speaks of the fun she had shooting for the film. “Though Beast is an intense film, we had a lot of fun while shooting it. Sure, I had some language problems; had it been a Malayalam film, I would have known how to respond to all the banter,” she says, laughing.
Aparna hopes to follow Beast with content-oriented films. In Malayalam, she has Priyan Ottathilanu co-starring Sharafudheen and Nyla Usha coming up. She is also doing a Tamil film titled Dada, with Kavin. I point out that there are memes out there that point out that Kavin keeps acting with supporting actors from Vijay’s films. “I realised that only recently,” says Aparna. “Jokes apart, I think the film has a promising storyline and I’m looking forward to doing more such good projects in Tamil.”