‘Unni Maya is one of the few strongly written roles’

It is obvious that the former Indian women netball team captain-turned actress can’t wait to see herself on the big screen soon. Talking about playing Unni Maya, a devdasi in the film, Prachi says, “I started shooting for Unni Maya last year and completed a chunk of the portions before the film’s production came to a halt due to various reasons. 

The break helped me to understand my character. That is when I realised that the character has been lying somewhere deep within me. I had never come out of it and when we started the shoot this year, we began with a fight scene without training for it. And to play Unni Maya was a learning curve. The way the dialogues are written for my character is quite impactful.”

The actress tells us that the portrayal of her role will be on a par with women characters in films made by Mani Ratnam and Sanjay Leela Bhansali. “I was easily able to relate myself to the role because in a way it reflects my real-life persona. Also, characters like these will resonate with the audience because, strong female roles in Indian film industry is still in its infancy. I am sure films like Mamankam will motivate more filmmakers to come up with brave female characters in future,” adds Prachi.  

Talking about the sets of the movie, which revolves around a medieval festival of the same name, she says, “The story is set in the 1600s. The makers of the film have recreated the era completely and in fact we rehearsed on the sets that is spread around 21 acres of land, which is much bigger than the sets of Baahubali. 

Would you believe that the entire 21 acres was lit with diyas and not artificial lightings? The minute detailing of the sets helped us get into the skin of the character as it threw light on how people were back then. It was an experience of sorts to witness the Mamankam battlefield. Though my portions were set in the Unni Maya’s mansion, I made it a point to go experience the fight scene.”

Having landed a film like Mamankam as her debut project, Prachi says that she will have to look for projects that are equally big. “It is going to be quite tricky because my next film should be as good as Mamankam. If not in terms of production, the content should be strong and I am sure I will get to listen to such scripts once filmmakers start noticing me when Mamankam releases,” she concludes.