In Malayalam serials, female villains on rise !

These villainous women of Malayalam television get you into the mood for some uncanny fun every time they appear on screen. Times might have advanced and reality shows taken prime time slots, but the attention these women get – approving or otherwise - has not withered.
Sreelakshmi
Interestingly, unlike in the past, the audience have started appreciating negative characters.Sreelakshmi, who plays Reema in Oru Penninte Kadha, explains, “It is for the first time in my career that I am playing a character with such negative shades. I am not an artist who loves to play negative roles. I also did not know the extent of my character’s villainy initially. But I have got positive feedback for my role, not only from the viewers by also from fellow actors. I have often heard many artists who play similar roles narrating their bad experience from the audience, but I have never faced such a problem. Negative roles give you a lot more scope to emote than the regular goody-goody roles.”
Amala Rose Kurian
Amala Rose Kurian, who plays the remorseless Urmila in Padasaram, recalls a recent experience. “I was at a hospital when a three-year-old girl spotted me and started crying out to her mother. She went on to say, ‘I hate you Urmila, you are cruel!’ In the initial days, such experiences used to affect me badly. But now I have learnt to look at it as an appreciation for portraying my character realistically.”
Beena Antony
Popular television actress Beena Antony also echoes Sreelakshmi’s views, and adds, “People have hatred for the character, but appreciate how we enact it. Many often remark that they feel like slapping the character or knocking her down for being the villain that she is,” muses Beena.
Sajith Shamas
Actress Sajitha Shamas, who has played many roles on TV with negative streaks over the years, is happy that she is getting such characters with scope for performance. Her role as Abhirami in Amrita TV’s Ponnu Poloru Pennu has been the latest in her ‘villainous’ profile. “I have heard many comments about me based on my character. There are many people in Malabar, where I am settled, who have confessed to me that when they first met me, they thought I a villainous character in real life too,” says Sajitha. But her in laws has been of immense support to her career, and they jokingly comment that it’s the heroine, Ponnu, that they empathise with, not the crooked Urmila, says Sajitha.
Feedback apart, these artistes are revelling in the personal satisfaction that they get while playing such characters and don’t mind taking up such roles again. At the same time, the artists assert that they don’t want to be senselessly villainous. Sreelakshmi says, “My character Reema has a reason for being negative and that is important for me. Also, if the banner is good and the director makes the best use of your talent, I am open to playing roles with diverse shades.” Sajitha Shamas expresses similar views and adds, “Playing a negative role is not a trivial thing. You have to bring in that conviction – which should be backed by a good subject – to earn respect and attention from the audience.”