Namitha Pramod to try a variety of looks in Al Mallu and Margamkali

Malayalam has had many movies about the trials and tribulations faced by men who work abroad.

But in a State where there are many women too who work in foreign countries in sectors, such as nursing and IT, our movies have barely looked into unique challenges they face. Boban Samuel directorial

Al Mallu

, starring Namitha Pramod, does just that. Namitha, who has finished about a month’s shooting in Abu Dhabi for the movie, now has another 10 days of shoot left in Kerala. She tells us more about the film and her other upcoming projects like

Margamkali

and Professor Dinkan.

Namitha says, “My character Nayana works in the IT industry. She is an independent woman who handles the many struggles of being in a foreign land. Al Mallu presents her life, and that of a group of women she stays with.” Al means respect in Arabic, says Namitha. In the female-centric film, Nayana, who hails from a middle-class family in Kerala, gets exposed to a starkly different culture and lifestyle abroad. “I have two different looks in the movie to show her transition — traditional and modern,” she says. Miya also appears in a guest role in the movie.

Though she is just completing her graduation, Namitha has friends who are working abroad and have faced issues similar to that of her character, she says. “My best friend completed her postgraduation from Paris and is working there. She told me an incident that sent shock waves through my mind. While at the airport, a well-built black man started stalking her and this continued on the flight, when he tried to pass on a packet to her through the airhostess. Though she dismissed it saying she doesn't know the person, he managed to catch hold of her again near the loo, and said he wants her to work with him and to go with him,” Namitha recollects. Apparently, he was an influential person with major contacts, says Namitha, adding, “Somehow, she managed to escape his clutches but later she found details about him on the internet.”

Interestingly, there is a similar situation that is portrayed in the movie as well. “Getting caught up in such situations in foreign lands with no loved ones to watch over you can truly be scary, and that's what we try to portray,” Namitha says. Alongside safety, harassment is another aspect that is explored through the character. “I have also heard of instances in which women who work abroad face extreme mental harassment, which is sometimes even more troublesome than physical torture. Nayana also goes through the same,” says Namitha.
The actress has just wrapped up the shoot of her film Margamkali, directed by Kuttanadan Marpappa-fame Sreejith Vijayan, as well. She is the heroine of scriptwriter-actor Bibin George in the movie. “My character has a particular 'defect' in the movie, though I feel we can't always term it so. I can't reveal what it is yet. But, we can see many people around us who have it. It doesn't matter to many, while there are others who are affected by it. As far as this girl is concerned, it is something she has developed a deep inferiority complex over, with time. That is what troubles her.” The movie is a love story and Namitha says it is a film she said yes to, soon after she heard the script. “Apart from ample scope to emote, we also had detailed make up tests to fix the look."
Her film Professor Dinkan's shoot hasn't wrapped up yet. “As it is a big budget 3D film, it takes time and alongside that, getting the dates of all actors in it together has been a challenge for us,” she says. Namitha also has another Malayalam movie coming up in July, this year.