It had precisely been two years since the lovelorn and aggrieved Daisy left M-Town. It's now time for a return. In the comeback version, the onscreen Daisy is a queen in many respects. Manjima Mohan, the cherubic child artiste of the late 90s and early noughties, quickly shifted gears to other language industries with barely one movie in Malayalam to take credit as a lady lead, Oru Vadakkan Selfie. The second time has her stepping into the shoes of Kangana Ranaut in Zam Zam, the remake of Bollywood movie Queen. Manjima has devoted a month for the remake version to kick off in November. The entire month, she’d be shooting for the movie abroad in Paris and Amsterdam.
Those having a deep-seated place for Rani Mehra (Kangana’s character) would for sure have great expectations about her Malayalam twin. To the question on how well she plans to put herself up, she answers modestly. “I cannot promise that I’ll do better than her. She is a completely different person and artiste. I can do up to my ability. I will try to give my 100 per cent,” she speaks straight. The Malayalam version is directed by Neelakanta Reddy. The remake is happening in four languages, and different female actors are doing the roles in each. Kajal Aggarwal, Tamannaah Bhatia and Parul Yadav have been roped in for the Tamil, Telugu and Kannada versions respectively.
The way she came on board was nothing short of surprise for Manjima. She was busy lunching at a shooting location when the manager wanted her to meet somebody waiting for her. “My manager said that in half an hour I had to meet a team. I went there. Neelakanta sir watched my movies and I think he liked my performance. Then it all happened in just two weeks. I never thought it’d come my way. First of all, it was a surprise call. Even when I went there I was not sure I was going to play the character. It was a big surprise for me,” she gushes.
Being excited and nervous at the same time, Manjima wants to take the role as it comes. She keeps no expectation and rests everything to the director’s discretion. Her preparations and expectations go like this. “Basically, I never prepare for any of my movies. I believe the more you prepare, the less you would be able to perform. I think you should leave it to the director. If you prepare more and assume what you are going to do, it may turn difficult for the director,” she clears. Queen was about how a less-confident Punjabi girl sets out on a self-discovering journey upon being ditched by her fiancé on the wedding eve. Against the Kerala backdrop, the girl hails from a Muslim family. “The concept was changed to a Muslim background. I feel that works in Kerala a lot. People can easily relate to it, that’s important” says she.
Being a couple of movies old in Tamil and Telugu, Manjima stayed away from Malayalam for want of a right script. “I was not getting good scripts. There were a couple of movies that came in between when I had three or four movies in Tamil. Malayalam and Tamil are very different when it comes to the making. Malayalam gives lot of importance to script. Even Malayalam commercial movies have the backing of a strong script,” she observes. If asked what kind of movie she waits for in Malayalam, Majima may not specify any genre. But her eye for the best reflects in her words.
“I’d be in if there is a good director and good team. When Vineeth called me and told the movie (Oru Vadakkan Selfie) is of the Thattathinmarayathu and Malarvadi Arts Club kind, I signed. I like the way Anjali Menon writes her scripts and I like Anwar Rasheed’s making. These are a couple of favourite directors from Malayalam. Such directors, if they call, I may, even without reason, just go and do it,” she says excitedly. The second coming is with a woman-centric movie, something yet to go down well with the Indian audience. “Queen, I believe, is one of the movies that changed the whole idea about female-oriented movies in Bollywood. I am not saying this will change. I still don’t expect everybody to go and watch it, but there’s going to be a set of people who will watch and appreciate it,” she concludes with confidence.
