Darshana Rajendran: ‘Purusha Pretham is a very political film; yet there are two ways you can watch it…’

Jaya’s rise from a helpless woman in distress, who had been facing abuse from all corners, to the no-holds-barred martial artist-cum-owner of a local poultry farm is the real super-shero story that we deserved but never received till then. And Darshana simply won audiences over with her performance, leaving them wishing for more from her.

Sit back and relax now, because Darshana is back behind the wheel again, but this time in a dark-comedy investigation thriller, Purusha Pretham, directed by Krishand. Yes, the same Krishand who made the jaw-dropping Aavasavyuham (2022).

While the Purusha Pretham’s teaser hinted that the movie could be a cop drama, the trailer dispelled these expectations by starting with a conversation about ghosts and then kicking into high gear with dark humour and thriller elements. The promotional videos for Purusha Pretham also display Krishand’s unusual filmmaking approach, a “glimpse” of which the audience saw in the science fiction dark comedy Aavasavyuham.

Giving indianexpress.com a sneak peek into the world of Purusha Pretham, actor Darshana Rajendran says, “Purusha Pretham follows the story of Sebastian, a super cop who is very brave and people are always in awe of him. Everything is perfect until an unidentified body that they found goes missing. All of a sudden, everything is under the scanner. Everyone around him starts scrutinising Sebastian. But it seems impossible to go into the depths of where or what went wrong. I play the role of a woman whose husband has gone missing and has come to Sebastian to find out if the body they discovered is her spouse’s. That’s how I come into this world. And the film just tracks this.”

Krishand’s last film Aavasavyuham, according to its title, was the arbit documentation of an amphibian hunt. It was praised for its narration, making style and the theme it covered. Thus, when the first look posters of Purusha Pretham appeared on social media, they grabbed attention instantly.

“At the time, I hadn’t seen Aavasavyuham and had only heard good things about it from those who had seen it at IFFK. They were gushing over it. It was while I was looking forward to watching Aavasavyuham that Krishand called me to talk about this movie. I was very excited to talk to him and said yes to it almost immediately, though it was quite an unconventional choice in terms of films. I was overjoyed to be a part of a world with so many different elements. It has a crime noir space, as well as a procedural cop story, but it also includes dark humour. It’s a very political film. Yet there are two ways you can watch it. You may either watch it and actively engage with all of its layers and nuances, or you can just watch it because it’s fun. It’s very easily an entertaining, fun film to watch,” Darshana attests.

Referring to director Krishand’s style of narration and making that are very different from his peers in the Malayalam film industry, including the people Darshana has worked with in the past, she says, “Even though Purusha Pretham talks about dark and gory incidents that centre on death and bodies, the approach to it is very light. The dialogues themselves are amusing. I enjoy such films. Therefore, it was a very interesting space that I could enter with ease. Also, Krishand’s narrative style is something we haven’t seen or heard before, which is why I believe everyone was so astounded by Aavasavyuham. Even though none of us knew how Purusha Pretham would turn out while it was being made, I just walked in and submitted myself to the filmmaker as the movie was ultimately in his head. There are many shots in this film that are a little far from reality, like the ones featured in the teaser. We didn’t fully understand Krishand’s thoughts while we were filming the movie. But, when we saw them finally, these shots didn’t seem odd at all. These ended up being great moments, in fact.”

Darshana Rajendran also has a level of diversity in her body of work that is unmatched by those of her contemporaries. Since her big break in 2017 with Aashiq Abu’s Mayaanadhi, she has done a psychological drama (Koode), a medical thriller (Virus), a computer screen film (C U Soon), an anthology film (Aanum Pennum), a mystery thriller (Irul), a coming-of-age romantic film (Hridayam), a coming-of-age thriller (Dear Friend), a “family” drama (Jaya Jaya Jaya Jaya Hey), and an epic political drama (Thuramukham). “Making my filmography seem in that manner was not a conscious choice. Yet it is deliberate in terms of picking out films that I can relate to or what my heart truly yearns for. The way I was perceived slightly altered after Hridayam. I, therefore, started getting a lot of romantic or college romance movies. While I’m happy to do more of those, I want to do something new or different in addition to those things. I’ve been getting stories. But I’m glad I’m in a position where I can decline opportunities that don’t excite me. Even while turning down 10 such projects, and not knowing if an 11th one would happen, I continue to wait for the one story that I really want to work on. I have always had long breaks between films, during which I keep listening to stories. I have occasionally wondered if I was just turning everything down and what if the subsequent one does not happen. But somehow, films have been happening and I’m really glad that they are. And when I find a story like that, I can go back with the same zeal and dedication I had for the prior one.”

Though she had her big break in 2017, Darshana really came into her own in 2020. While the rest of the world was occupied (and worn out) fighting the pandemic, editor-turned-director Mahesh Narayanan created the first computer screen thriller movie in India. Darshana grabbed headlines with her portrayal of Anumol, a woman who was forced to work as a sex worker after being trafficked from Kerala to Dubai. One of the very few Malayalam film stars born during the epidemic era, she has since appeared in a number of noteworthy movies. Darshana, though, is hesitant to acknowledge that she has become a star. She says, smiling, “I still think it’s too far away.”

She, however, agrees that C U Soon is the film that put her on the map. “Before working in the microfinance industry for a while, I was a finance student. I entered the film industry after that. I worked on quite a few films prior to C U Soon. Though people in my life were aware that I had started acting and had chosen a new professional route, it wasn’t until C U Soon that they realised or recognised that I was serious about this.”

“I was having a terrific time even before C U Soon… doing smaller characters in great films like Mayaanadhi and Virus too. Since I frequently choose to play smaller characters, those who know me well do wonder why I pick lesser roles or why I don’t choose the ones that provide a little bit more. But my goal is to do the best or most-challenging things in the best way I can. I’m getting these films today, and I want to do them. Perhaps, for the rest of my life, all I will ever get to do is one scene each in big films. And for many people, this might not make any sense. I do, however, want to,” she adds as she gears up for her next direct-to-OTT film almost two years after the last one, Irul.

In the meantime, indianexpress.com was also curious to learn more about Jayabharathi and her current world. “How do you think she’s doing now?” we asked. “She must be killing it! I think she’s having a party on her own. I really feel like she is living a good life,” an ecstatic Darshana exclaims.

The “family” drama Jaya Jaya Jaya Jaya Hey discusses, in an astonishingly excellent manner, a very sensitive and universal topic – the abuse, both physical and emotional, that women experience on a daily basis, particularly from family members. But the movie illustrates this by using humour, irony, and comedic portrayal of men/abusers. Though the film worked really well, a rethinking of its story would make one wonder if Darshana and others associated with it had any apprehensions about the film’s tone thinking “what if people don’t find this funny? What if they feel like we’re mocking their trauma?”

“There were a number of occasions when I was truly scared by that thought. I believe there were several instances where I had doubts about the approach, particularly the fact that we are once again using violence (as retaliation). These are questions that undoubtedly came up throughout the project. And I’m delighted that we too were considering and discussing it. In this case, as with Purusha Pretham, it was about trusting the tone the director used and his intention. I knew from the beginning itself that I will keep having these questions. But I had faith in the film. And I’m really happy with how it turned out and that the discussions the movie sort of started still continue. I had multiple conversations with both men and women after the film came out. The women shared how they got the feeling of “being seen” after watching the movie. It was very moving. It felt a little revolutionary. One of the reasons the film was able to attract such a wide audience, in my opinion, is because of its tone. Therefore, I completely concur with the way it was done,” she says.

A few years ago, during a chat with the members of the comedy group East India Comedy (EIC), Bollywood actor Taapsee Pannu claimed that it was difficult for women-centric films or movies with female leads to get producers. She claimed that this was also a result of the lack of support that these movies receive from audiences while they are showing in theatres, which causes them to earn far less money than movies headlined by male stars. Years later, the overtly female-centric, low-budget Malayalam movie Jaya Jaya Jaya Jaya Hey became one of the highest-grossing movies of 2022, earning over Rs 40 crore at the box office.

When asked if she believes that change is occurring gradually, Darshana responds, “Making a women-centric film has never been easy. That’s also why you don’t get a character like Jaya often. It is still challenging to have a women-led film done, despite excellent films headlined by women like Rekha (2023) being released now. Even though the situation is changing, we still have a long way to go. The market is still ultimately controlled by people of a particular gender, and this is reflected in the pay scale as well. What makes it so commonplace? This is a job everyone does, irrespective of their gender. I believe we have slowly begun to acknowledge it. I recall that two other movies with female leads (Autorickshawkarante Bharya and Kumari) both came out the same week as Jaya Jay Jaya Jaya Hey. Someone made a collage poster featuring the three of us (Darshana, Ann Augustine and Aishwarya Lekshmi) and it got widely circulated on social media. It felt like a new wave. That’s a sign that things are gradually shifting, and I think we’ll see more of this.”

Also starring Prasanth Alexander, Jagadish and Devaki Rajendran, Purusha Pretham is currently streaming on SonyLIV.