Malayalam actors Mallika Sukumaran, Neeraja Rajendran and Mala Parvathy got together at the second edition of Manorama Hortus in Kochi on Thursday to find out why mother characters have disappeared from Malayalam cinema. The conversation soon veered towards other pressing concerns — neglect towards elderly women actors in shooting locations. Neeraja recalled instances where she had to walk long distances to find a washroom during outdoor shoots.
Caravans are sometimes not allowed for them, she hinted. Mallika Sukumaran looked livid. “You should use caravans, if they say no, you should confront them,” she said. Mallika couldn’t just hold back. “I think, some actors can’t take up these issues because they believe they will be avoided from films, if they ask for permission to use a caravan. I believe you should plainly ask them,” Mallika asserted, before checking her outrage with a reason. “I am often called a loose talker, who says anything that comes to mind,” she said.
Mala Parvathy saw the funny side of the issue. “I remember actor Pauly Valsan telling us about the same hardships she had faced while staging dramas. Once, after back-to-back shows, Pauly badly wanted to go to the toilet. There wasn’t any in the vicinity. She started searching for one, accompanied by another woman actor. They wandered into what looked like a vacant stretch of land at night. Pauly thought it was the ideal place. Just as she found a place, fireworks lit up the sky and much to her shock, she saw spectators lined up all around the plot. It was a festival venue for fireworks,” Parvathy said. Mallika didn’t want to lose the gravity of the topic.
Mallika Sukumaran speaking as part of a session at Manorama Hortus 2025. Photo: Manorama.
“It is a health concern, we are old women who should be provided all basic amenities at shooting locations. We take medicines, we have ailments and washroom should be a priority,” Mallika said.
She also had a word of advice for the younger generation. “There is a need for mother characters in Malayalam cinema. If we make them speak good in films, it will have an impact on the youth,” she said.
According to Parvathy, archetypal, idealistic notions about mother characters have changed. “The present generation knows what to do with their lives. Even mother characters appear as voice at the other end of the phone in films. Mother characters have become realistic. Those oozing with love and affection as in earlier films are found cringy,” she said.