Exclusive! Mamta Mohandas: After Jana Gana Mana’s narration, I felt like I had just watched Rang De Basanti

The Malayalam actress plays the pivotal role of Saba Mariam in the Dijo Jose Antony directorial, which has Prithviraj Sukumaran and Suraj Venjaramoodu as the male protagonists

Dijo Jose Antony and Mamta Mohandas on the sets of Jana Gana Mana

Mamta Mohandas is visibly chuffed about her role in the upcoming Dijo Jose Antony film Jana Gana Mana, for all the right reasons. While Prithviraj Sukumaran and Suraj Venjaramoodu play the male protagonists in the movie, Mamta’s character Saba Mariam forms “the heart and soul of the movie” and reflects its spirit from the beginning till the end, the actress tells OTTplay.

“I think Jana Gana Mana has a huge national spirit. After its narration, I felt like I had just watched Rang De Basanti,” she says. “Through its music and visuals, the movie had that spirit and I felt proud. The way I visually placed my character in the movie, I felt like a martyr, a hero. So, that feel itself fills you up and makes you want to be a part of the film.”

However, when Dijo and its co-producer Listin Stephen first narrated the script to the actress, she initially was hesitant to get onboard the socio-political entertainer, scripted by Sharis Muhammed.

“My first response after the narration was: ‘I was definitely doing the film but…’ and that went for a long time. In fact, they went on to start shooting the movie when I was still hanging on that ‘but’,” she says, adding that while she doesn’t want to state the reason, it was “lame in the larger scheme of things”.

The film’s shoot had spanned over one and a half years, and while it’s been a while since Mamta has been part of such a lengthy, interrupted shoot, the actress says it also presented a new experience as there was a lot of teamwork involved from both the cast and crews. “I have not done a film like this where I have felt that this is not just my film but everybody’s,” she says. Jana Gana will hit theatres worldwide on April 28.

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