Premalu star Mamitha Baiju reveals struggles on Bala's Vanangaan shoot: 'He used to hit me...'

Director Bala is a great filmmaker, but it's safe to assume that he's not an easy colleague to work with. He has a notorious reputation for throwing tantrums at his actors on sets if the scenes don't come out as per his expectations. And that reputation is reinforced by the recent revelation made by young Malayalam actress Mamitha Baiju, who is basking in the success of Premalu .

During a recent interview with a radio channel, Mamitha Baiju recalled her experience on the sets of Bala's upcoming movie Vanangaan . She was initially roped in to play a key supporting role alongside Tamil superstar Suriya playing the lead role.

Mamitha Baiju's challenging experience on Vanangaan sets

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Mamitha revealed that she faced a lot of stress as she was required to play folk drums during a particular shot. The challenge was intensified by her lack of prior experience with such a percussion instrument, leaving her clueless. Despite managing to deliver a performance that met Bala's approval in about three takes, Mamitha did not escape the director's bad temperament.

"I had to learn that and perform on the actual take. During that time, I received a lot of scolding. He (Bala) had told me before that he would say certain things during the shoot and asked me not to take it to heart. I tried not to take things personally on the sets. He used to hit me on the back and all," recounted Mamitha.

'Suriya, Bala share great rapport'

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Later on, Mamitha decided to withdraw from the project without completing her portions. She is not the only actor to quit during the initial days of the project; Suriya also chose to leave the project after participating in the initial shoots.

"Suriya sir was already aware (of Bala's temperament). They have worked together in the past, right? Only I was new to Bala sir's working style. Suriya sir and Bala sir share a good rapport," she noted.

Suriya left Vanangaan citing creative differences, and he was subsequently replaced by Arun Vijay.

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