Much ado about nothing

Anumol’s phone rang and a concerned voice at the other end asked, “Are you fine?” A bewildered Anumol answered that she was perfectly good. That was just the beginning of calls from her friends and well-wishers enquiring about her well-being. It took a while for Anumol to understand that it was a photo that she had posted on her Instagram page that led to the flurry of calls. She laughs and explains, “There was a film Maram Peyyumbol based on the true life story of a nurse, which unfortunately got shelved. But I had put in so much hard work for the film that had some get-ups of me in a hospital ward.   asked director Anil Thomas’s  permission to at least allow me to post those pictures on my social media  pages because of the effort I had taken. Thankfully, he agreed and so I shared them on my Instagram feed mentioning that it was a look from my film.” 

Social media being what it is, the photos started getting shared with various versions screaming ‘Anumol is seriously ill’,  explaining she was in a serious accident and hospitalised. She exclaims, “There were even people who believed I was dead after meeting with an accident,” adding, “I had clearly mentioned that it was a still from my film, but even then…” she trails off. These forwards were the reason why her phone was buzzing all day. One look at the photos of the shoot and it is easy to understand why the rumours began. The stills are graphic with Anumol’s heavily bandaged face looking completely battered and broken with her head shaved. In fact, there is no trace of Anumol anywhere in the photos. She credits makeup artiste Pattanam Shah for the brilliant change.

 She adds, “My mother was  present with me while this  particular shoot was going on and she teared up seeing my face. She could not bear to see me in that look and preferred to stay outside until I had removed my makeup. In fact, even I could not bring myself to look at the  mirror in that get-up,” she reveals. She is really sad that all her efforts have gone to waste since the film has been shelved due to various reasons.  But the actress has some powerful roles she can look forward to — Udalazham and Padmini — the shooting of which are over. These films will be initally be screened at film festivals. before their theatrical release. Padmini is a film Anumol is very excited about and is based on the life of Kerala’s talented painter T.K. Padmini. “It was news to me that Kerala was home to such a  talented painter.

Not many  people are aware of her genius and her different styles of art. She painted realistic pictures as well as nudes at a time when freedom of expression was not what it is now. Her courage to express her vision and feelings found takers from even abroad. I feel happy that I could be an instrument for her work to be seen,” says Anumol, who learnt to draw from Kaladharan Master to lend authenticity to her role. She is very optimistic about the film. She has two upcoming projects– one in Malayalam and an other language film.