The Malayalam cinema has been giving away many impressive stories in the past few months. As several critics and fans have expressed their admiration for the cinema, Vidya Balan is the latest to join the fan fest. The actress recently hailed Mammootty’s recent work and talked about his courage to play various characters.
During her appearance on Unfiltered by Samdish, Vidya Balan opened up about her admiration for Malayalam cinema. The actress praised the Malayalam superstar Mammootty for portraying a gay man in the 2023 movie Kaathal: The Core. Praising his commendable performance in the drama, Vidya revealed how she sent her best wishes to him through his actor son Dulquer Salmaan.
While praising Mammootty for his role, Balan continued, “For the biggest superstar of Malayalam cinema to not only act in it, but also produce it, I don’t think there’s a bigger show of acceptance or support to the community, and then opening others’ minds to the same. Unfortunately, I don’t think any of our Hindi stars would be able to do a film like Kaathal.” However, Vidya Balan refused to name names in Bollywood who could not experiment with characters.
Vidya Balan compares Malayalam & Bollywood movies
Vidya Balan compared Malayalam cinema to Bollywood. The Bhool Bulaiyaa actress praised the Malayalam audience for giving their actors a safe space to play complex characters. She said, “We have to accept that it’s a more literate audience in Kerala. That’s a big difference. The texture of the lowest common denominator is very different in Kerala. I’m not taking away from him (Mammootty) that he did. But maybe it’s a bit easier there. It is a reflection of his society. I think they’d be more open to something like this.”
“And they revere their actors like anything in the South. They worship them, especially the male superstars. So it’s that much more credible that he went ahead and did it. He didn’t think it’d be a reflection of my machismo. He’s a much more secure actor,” she added.
