Exclusive! Veena Nandakumar: Had to opt out of Mohanlal’s 12th Man due to its date clash with Bheeshma Parvam

For a lot of young actors, working in a Mammootty or a Mohanlal-starrer very early in their career is a dream start, purely due to the visibility the superstar-driven films offer as well as learning. Kettyolaanu Ente Malakha was in an envious position last year when she had to choose between Mohanlal’s 12th Man, directed by Jeethu Joseph , and Mammootty’s Bheeshma Parvam, helmed by Amal Neerad.

“I had to opt out of 12th Man because its shoot date clashed with Bheeshma Parvam,” Veena tells OTTplay, in an exclusive chat. The actress, who much like the rest of the cast and crew, looks visibly chuffed about the release of Mammootty’s gangster thriller on March 3.

Right off the bat, Veena tells us that she can’t reveal much about her character Jessy in the film as it would spoil the suspense. However, working with Amal was her “biggest takeaway” from the movie. “He’s a perfectionist, who knows exactly what he wants. I understood that right from the narration,” she says.

The actress reveals that Amal said he cast her for the role after watching her performance in Asif Ali’s Kettyolaanu Ente Malakha , even though the characters in the two movies are vastly different. “What I like about Amalettan is that even before casting a particular character, he has a good idea about whom he wants to play that role; as in he would picturise what the person looks like, what they are wearing and who would be the best one to play the character. He doesn’t randomly choose actors,” she says.

Was it more challenging to work in Bheeshma Parvam, considering her debut film had a relatively younger crew who were also just starting out in the industry like her? “Actually, I think I was more comfortable doing this film, primarily because Kettyolaanu Ente Malakha was my debut film and I was one of the leads. So, that was an added responsibility. But because I did that film, I could learn a lot before being part of Bheeshma Parvam,” says the actress, who had quit her job in a multinational bank to pursue her interest in acting.

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