Pavithra Menon’s video mocking Param Sundari trailer, Janhvi Kapoor’s accent removed by Instagram; singer responds: ‘Happy Independence Day’

In her video, Pavithra also criticised the makers for not casting a Malayalam actor in the lead role. The clip featured a few seconds of footage from the movie’s trailer alongside Pavithra’s reaction, where she asked, “What’s the problem in hiring a proper Malayali actor? Hum kam talented hote hain kya (Are we less talented)?” She continued, “We have done such things in Malayalam films of the 90s when we had to show Punjabis (does an exaggerated balle balle). But now it’s 2025. I think everybody knows how a Malayali talks, and how they are as normal as anybody else. We don’t just wear jasmine flowers and do Mohiniyattam everywhere.”

After Pavithra shared the notice on Instagram, many users rallied in support of her in the comments section. “That means it reached the right ears. We’ll done,” one netizen noted, while another person commented, “They’re scared of this also? Happy Independence Day ig.” An angry Instagrammer wrote, “All Malayalis should submit a copyright infringement report against them for misrepresenting an entire state and its culture – they could have at least watched a few Malayalam movies for reference.” Pavithra later reuploaded her video on Instagram after removing footage from the movie’s trailer.

 

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A post shared by PAVITHRA MENON (@pavithramenon)

Besides Janhvi’s accent and attire, as well as the many stereotypical images presented in the trailer, her character’s name, Thekkupetta Sundari Damodaran Pillai, also attracted significant trolling, with many Malayalees pointing out that no Keralite has ever had a name even closely resembling that. Many native speakers also ridiculed the trailer, claiming they were unable to follow even a single word of the supposed Malayalam that Janhvi spoke.

Also starring Renji Panicker, Siddhartha Shankar, Manjot Singh, Sanjay Kapoor and Inayat Verma, Param Sundari is bankrolled by Dinesh Vijan under the banner of Maddock Films. The movie will hit the screens on August 29.