‘Women-oriented films have moved beyond abuse and molestation’ : Actress Aishwarya Rajesh

Dressed in black, Aishwarya Rajesh cheerfully waves as soon as he appears on the video with a drawing of her framed in the background. Ka Pae Ranasingam will be her first digital release which will premiere on October 2 in Zee Plex. “This is something exciting. I expected it to release in theatres but still the film would have a huge audience as the entire family can afford to watch it at Rs 199. Theatres are any day the big players for movie releases. My mom is a huge theatrical release fan, who makes it a point to watch FDFS in theatres. However, we will have to adapt to new normal and see how things take off from here,” the actress tells us. The film directed by Virumandi, who is the son of late artiste-singer Periya Karuppu Thevar will have Aishwarya in the role of Ariya Nachi. “Ariya Nachi will have different shades to her character. In one half, she will be seen as a naïve, sweet woman and in the other she will be seen as someone with valour and fight for a cause. Water scarcity is something which we all have faced at one point in time of our lives. But when I shot in Ramanathapuram, I could see what people go through everyday. The hotel we stayed didn’t have fresh water to bathe or brush. Imagine, the plight of the people who have been living in the town for decades now. When Virumandi narrated me the story, I asked him when are we going on floors. That is how Vijay Sethupathi came on board too. Initially, we asked him for five days and somehow we managed to make him shoot for over 20 days,” she laughs.

Having done a variety of characters in the last few years, the actress says she that she never had the insecurity in running short of choosing different roles each time. “I have been listening to a lot of scripts now. I am someone who personally believes that there should be more female centric subjects left to be made. They should also do good business at the box-office for people to come and watch such films. There is a misconception among the audience and even some filmmakers that women oriented films are only about child abuse and molestations. No, there is a lot of things that are untold. For instance, Ka Pae Ranasingam is a different genre that hasn’t been touched before. My next film Thittam Irandu too is a different subject. So, there are lot of subjects for women artistes to experiment and perform. I am glad that I am being approached for such subjects and my producers are benefitting from it,” she concludes.