Actress Adah Sharma, we can say, is at the peak of popularity now!! Her recent release The Kerala Story, has gained her critical acclaim. The film directed by Sudipto Sen and produced by Vipul Amrutlal Shah, is doing wonders at the box office. The film follows the story of a Hindu woman from Kerala, who is pushed to embrace Islam and is forced to join the ISIS terrorist organisation.
Adah who plays the protagonist in the film who is named Shalini Unnikrishnan who is further called Fatima Ba, gets into a frank and heart-warming interview with IWMBuzz.com where she discusses the film, her role and her future.
Read on.
The Kerala Story, did you expect this kind of whopping outcome?
No, I don’t think these things can be predicted..not by me at least.
We have read stories about how you prepared for the role. Tell us about the biggest challenge in prepping for this role…
I enjoy challenges once I’m in a film. I love the process of movie-making. I love pushing my mind and body to places I could never imagine. The best part is making it look so real that it doesn’t look like acting.
What is the biggest compliment you got for the film?
A well-known director told me that he felt my performance was so real that it didn’t seem like I was Adah who came on set, got ready in the vanity van(trailer) and then came on set to shoot. He said I looked real in the jail, like I did not have a bath for a few days, as real in the college scenes etc. That’s a compliment I cherish. As an actor, it means a lot.
The audience keeps sending me their favourite scenes every day on social media..the best part is everyone’s favourite scene is different from the other! The real survivors watching the movie and telling me what they thought also meant the world.
The Kerala Story has stood its ground amid all the controversy. Tell us about it.
There is a recently released video by our director Sudipto sir and producer Vipul sir. It is on YouTube. It has all the statistics and numbers. We did a press conference with the real girls as well. Standing ground with the truth is simple. It’s the only way.
How do you visualize this concept as a youngster?
The concept when once one watches the film, clearly speaks of terrorism, which we say and always have has no connection to religion. The Kerala Story is about how terrorists misuse religion. As a youngster, I think instead of saying terrorism doesn’t exist in our country or countries around the world, we should accept that it does exist and protect our society against it. The film has worked very well in international markets because the concept of ISIS brides is something that exists internationally as well, seen in Europe, London, USA …
After this big hit, what are you looking at in your career?
I am training my mind to enjoy the present. I think I would be doing great injustice to the universe if I now start thinking of the future and not concentrating on each moment I’m living in the present now. Movies like The Kerala story don’t happen often. The place I’m in right now isn’t a place that the audience allows everyone into.
If you have to say a line about the film to ask the masses to watch the film, what will it be?
You will go in to watch The Kerala Story as one person and come out as another person.
Do you think you have hit the peak of your career with this film? Your take on it.
I’ve made a special place in people’s hearts, I know that. I do each film thinking it could be my last. If so, so be it. If I’m meant to do more films, so be that as well.
What do you have to say about the movie being called a propaganda film?
I love my country. It is a place where every single human has an equal opportunity for freedom of speech. People can use it in all ways, however. Most people have watched the film, and that’s why it is such a success, growing every week by word of mouth and even through bans. Some people choose to not watch the film and label it as propaganda which is also freedom of speech.
