Akshara Haasan: 'Achcham Madam Naanam Payirppu is on the female gaze'

According to the popular Tamil adage, Achcham (Fear), Madam (Innocence), Naanam (Coyness), Payirppu (Chastity) are the four ‘ideal’ qualities that every good Tamil girl must possess. Achcham Madam Naanam Payirppu _ (The Myth of The Good Girl), features Akshara Haasan in the lead role in the film. The film has been recognised at various prestigious international film festivals such as HBO’s South Asian International Film Festival, Caleidoscope Indian Film Festival at Boston, Chicago South Asian Film Festival, Atlanta Indian Film Festival, Tasveer South Asian Film Festival at Seattle and the Mosaic International South Asian Film Festival in Canada. In conversation with Akshara Haasan plays the role of Pavithra in this progressive adult drama. Excerpts: On preparing for the role of ‘Pavithra’ in Achcham Madam Naanam Payirppu’… Pavithra comes from an orthodox family. She is in this phase of her life where she is trying to find a balance between societal expectations and her own desires and wants in life. It is quite an interesting character and in a lot of scenes, I felt that Pavitra was completely different from me. I had to be cautious because we were dealing with a very bold topic that had to be handled sensitively. With the coming of OTT, all barriers have been broken and all films have become global films. There is no difference between Bollywood and southern films now. What do you have to say on that? The one inch of subtitles which is at the bottom of the film is what makes it accessible to all. The subtitles make us understand what is happening in the film. And that has happened because of the OTT platform. It has given us the exposure to understand the cultures across the world, not just within the country. Most importantly the OTT platform has brought the world closer. OTT has exposed us to different kinds of cinema. We also need to up our game because the audience today understands cinema and they are watching much more films and shows with the coming of the digital platform. So, it is a challenge and we really have to work hard on our craft to keep the audience interested. How often have you been compared to your parents when it comes to your craft? Does this bother you? I take that as a challenge again because my parents have set the bar high and I feel it is my responsibility to take my family name forward. How different is the acting methodology in Bollywood and southern films? Bollywood functions very differently because the mindset of the people is different. But when it comes to punctuality and discipline it is the same. But a lot of times I felt that the methodology and concepts are very different. Achcham Madam Naanam Payirppu talks about the female gaze_…_ It’s quite interesting because director Raja Ramamoorthy took the effort to understand the female mindset, not just through the process of writing the film, but also during the post-production work as well. He constantly kept asking for advice from the women in the crew and he took our opinion for every scene that we did. He did it with complete honesty and innocence. The working space looked so different and there was so much love that I felt extremely comfortable. Starting from the director of photography, to our music director, our costume designer, our creative producer were all women. Do you think ‘Achcham Madam Naanam Payirppu’ has adequate elements which can inspire women? Lot of women today will definitely resonate with this film. It will encourage young women to speak their minds, explore themselves, and most importantly be who they are. How often do you feel that there is a need for the entertainment industry to realise that it is time for us to come out of our boxes of heroes, heroines, villains etc?  Just find your own space and tap into who we are as human beings and what we want to do. Nothing is better than being yourself and shining in what you want to. Read all the  Latest News ,  Trending News ,  Cricket News ,  Bollywood News ,  India News  and  Entertainment News  here. Follow us on  Facebook,  Twitter and  Instagram.