Ippadai Vellum is the kind of thriller that doesn't give you time to think, says Manjima Mohan

Actress Manjima Mohan made an assured debut in the Simbu-starrer Achcham Yenbathu Madamaiyada directed by Gautham Menon. Her face adorned the mobile wallpapers of youngsters then thanks to the insanely hit song Thalli Pogathey composed by Oscar nayagan AR Rahman and the adorably conceived character of Leela in the film. Now, exactly a year after AYM’s release, she’s is gearing up for her third Tamil film Ippadai Vellum, where she co-stars with actor-producer Udhayanidhi Stalin. In between, she has had only one release, Sathriyan, in June 2017. Despite getting a dream launchpad, Mohan has been choosing her roles cautiously and without any hurry. “After Sathriyan a lot of characters on rural backdrop came to me, but I don’t want to be stereotyped. If I do two or three films back to back, it will undoubtedly happen. I thought after a break I will take something like that. So, I had to pass those roles,” says Mohan in an exclusive chat with Firstpost. [caption id=“attachment_4200931” align=“alignleft” width=“380”]  Manjima Mohan and Udhayanidhi Stalin in Ippadai Vellum. Image from Youtube.[/caption] Asked if she’s choosy about her roles, and she says, “It’s a mix of being choosy and being offered the characters I want to do. A lot of movies came after AYM, but the kind of films I wanted didn’t happen. I didn’t want to choose something that I don’t want to do and regret later. So I decided to wait. And Sathriyan and Ippadai Vellum are the films I wanted to do at that point, whether it’s successful or not. And now the Malayalam remake of Queen. I always believe in taking it slow but not too slow either.” With a confident foothold in the industry now, Mohan says she would like to establish herself as a performer in the future: “I want to be known for my work and the films I choose. And if stardom comes my way then, why not? Ten years down the line, people should remember me for my performance. Not many expectations; just my dreams and I hope it will come true.” She further says she looks for certain things before signing a project. “It’s a mix of banner, story and the team. The script and the director are very important. And the team too because I have to work for thirty to forty days with the crew. It’s good to know the team; otherwise we have to sit and crib,” she says. In one of her earlier interviews, Mohan had said that a few people in the Malayalam film industry were shocked to know that Gautham Menon signed her because she was looking ‘fat.’ “I think now the perception has changed. At that point, I was very angry, but now I have started to work on myself. Not that I have lost a lot of weight, but I have lost weight after AYM. If a character demands to shed weight, I have no other choice, and I will do it. Actually, the real problem was not about directors wanting me to lose weight, but the way they said it and how some people used certain words,” says Mohan. Ippadai Vellum, Manjima’s latest film which hits theatres today, is directed by Gaurav Narayanan, known for his work in Thoonganagaram and Sigaram Thodu and is produced by 2.0 makers Lyca Productions. “My role is not a mere frame-adorning role, but I have a very crucial part in the film. Udhay, Soori and I have screen presence throughout the film. It’s a very interesting character. I’m not very much like her in real life except for certain areas. Ippadai vellum is the kind of thriller that doesn’t give you the time to think and makes you anticipate the further sequences,” says Mohan about the film and her character. At the recent press meet of the film, director Gaurav said Udhay, Manjima and Soori would always be pulling each other’s legs on sets. “It’s very difficult to work with them (Udhay and Soori) because they keep cracking jokes. When I do a serious scene they will stand at the suggestion side and laugh. Even when Udhay and I were shooting for the song, we would make fun of each other,” she says. Currently, she is busy shooting for her Malayalam film Zam Zam (which means ‘Holy Water of Mecca’), an official remake of Kangana Ranaut’s Hindi blockbuster Queen, directed by Neelakanta Reddy, who is also helming the Telugu version which stars Tamannaah in the lead. She will be camping in Paris, France for a month-long-schedule of the film before she comes back to India. On a concluding note, Mohan says, “I was a bit nervous about signing Zam Zam because I have no idea how people receive remakes down south. I am not super confident. I’m just going with the flow. I hope it will come out well.”