Anna Ben on her Tamil debut: PS Vinothraj’s Kottukkaali gave me clarity on why I love what I do | Exclusive

Malayalam actress Anna Ben has always maintained that Aashiq Abu’s Kumbalangi Nights will always be special to her. She has now placed the experience of working in her Tamil debut Kottukkaali on par with Kumbalangi Nights.

In an exclusive chat with OTTplay, Anna, who was last seen in Thrishanku, tells us, “I couldn’t have asked for a better debut in Tamil. It was the most wonderful time I have ever had on a film set, which is saying a lot because Kumbalangi Nights was magical for me. I put that over everything else because it’s my first film. Kottukkaali is on the same level for me because it was a major learning experience, not just in terms of the language but also because of the culture and the story they wanted to tell.”

Also read: Thrishanku star Anna Ben: Arjun Ashokan and I have been underdogs in terms of the kind of films we want to do 

The film, produced by Sivakarthikeyan, is helmed by PS Vinothraj, who had directed the Tiger Award-winning movie Pebbles aka Koozhaangal at the International Film Festival of Rotterdam. It also has Soori in the lead.

“Vinoth sir likes doing rooted movies in a rural setting. With Kottukkaali also, he wanted to make something very real, raw and gritty,” says Anna. “I was not sure how I would fit into that space because it was an entirely different geography and culture. But they welcomed me in such a way that it was so easy for me to blend in completely.”

The Helen and Kappela actress also explains that working in the film at this stage in her career, also helped give her clarity on questions such as “If this what I am supposed to?” or “Is this the right part for me?” “As actors, when you take up films and work back-to-back, you are kind of burnt out and somewhere you lose yourself; there are so many questions coming up. I did have all of that in my head and I was clouded,” she says. “Then I did Kottukkaali and it gave so much clarity on why I love what I do and that is very precious to me. No matter what happens to the film, it will always be special to me and I hold it very close to my heart.”

Anna also adds that she had a “magical time” working with the team in Madurai. “I only knew a bit of Tamil. People from Madurai, including Vinothraj sir’s family, had acted in this film. It was a very small team, almost as if we were shooting a short film. All of them only spoke in Tamil and I had no choice but to learn the language. And they were so nice because they would sit down and teach me how they pronounce words. It’s like I got a small family in Madurai. When I left the space, it was like I left a part of me there and came back,” she concludes.