Molly aunty is leagues apart from the forty-plus domestic goddess you are familiar with. She is spunky, spirited and stands up for her rights- The very reason Revathy couldn't resist putting on the greasepaint for her.
"I was completely floored by my characterization in 'Molly Aunty Rocks'. She is a middle-aged US returnee who works as a bank clerk, but not quite the mild and mellowed-out type. She has her unique style of reacting to situations, there is casualness about her, but there is also an element of drama. In short, Molly is a person so full of sun," says the actress who dons the title role in the film.
The film is woven around the 45-year-old Molly and her professional spat with a young income tax officer played by Prithviraj.
"Ranjith Sankar as a filmmaker has opted for exclusive subjects for his first two movies. More than mere storytelling, 'Passenger' and 'Arjunan Sakshi' cut through some relevant societal issues. 'Molly Aunty' is no different, but the film also deals with relationships though in a subtle and delicate mode," she elaborates.
While others of her flock have more or less relocated to tailor-made roles, Revathy, who has worked with many A-listers in Indian cinema, says she always looks for roles that suits her interest as a performer. "I belong to an era where the star of a film used to be its story and how the director deals with it. I believe there is more to cinema than candyfloss romance," she says.
The actress also adds that Malayalam cinema is finally stepping out of its comfort zone, experimenting with both theme and treatment.
"There has been bold attempts that reminds me of the heydays of Malayalam cinema. Instead of playing safe or indulging in an outrageous effort to please the masses, filmmakers are now stretching their boundaries. Even regional cinema as a whole has gone for an extreme makeover. I have recently been watching a lot of Marathi films and the change you spot is simply amazing. There are less formula films and more character-oriented ones. What really matters is the emergence of a spate of scripts that improvise on real life incidents," she says.
Revathy says after Molly aunty, she hasn't taken any acting assignments so that she can completely concentrate on the new film she is planning in Hindi. "While scripting a film your mind is constantly occupied and it's not easy to take a break from that. As of now I have just finished a documentary that will be aired in Doordarshan very soon. It chronicles Tamil theatre from the point of view of an artist. Each theatre has a specific manner of emerging and Tamil theatre is more than 1500 years old," she says.
The actress also nourishes a fetish for theatre and says she thoroughly enjoys performing on stage. "This year I did two plays which turned out to be an exciting affair and I really want to continue with that".
After her noted directorial outings in English and Hindi, Revathy landed in Malayalam cinema with the poignant 'Makal' in 'Kerala Cafe'. The actress-filmmaker says though she absolutely loves the industry, wielding the megaphone for a Malayalam movie is not one of her imminent plans.
"My comfort language has always been English, one reason for placing my first film in a foreign milieu. Malayalam is a language I later picked up, but I would definitely love to make a film in Malayalam though not in the near future," she says.
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