How many female actors would go the Shabana Azmi, Lisa Ray or Nandita Das way and totally shave off their head for a bald look? In the multi-crore business of entertainment, where beauty is a premium, these actors have done the unthinkable and shaved off their crowning glory to get into the skin of their characters. Now, closer home, we have Malayali actor Shamna Kasim, also popular as Poorna in Tamil and Telugu, who has gone the extra mile to add authenticity to her character for the Tamil film Kodi Veeran directed by Muthiah, where she shares screen space with Sasi Kumar.
It has been seven days since Shamna went totally bald and she is coming to terms with the loss of her flowing, thick tresses, not that she is complaining. Bald is just a four-letter word on paper. But to achieve that look, Shamna went through a lot of soul searching and gut-wrenching moments. It took her one whole day to take a decision to do away with her tresses in order to portray the strong woman that she plays in the film. She explains, “The character demands this look and I decided to go for it.” Taking a moment to go back in time, she says, “It has been ten years since I stepped into the industry and I have done a lot of song and dance and romantic films. I wanted to do something different and this character came along. Though I cannot reveal too much about my character, I knew that only if I went totally bald could I justify my character. When I committed myself to play the role, I thought it was very challenging but I was also apprehensive about how I would look, as in whether the shaved look would suit me. Anyway, the audience will see a different Shamna in the film.” Shamna laughs while recounting this.
It was not easy as D-day for her change in look approached. She started having doubts and the apprehensions of people close to her did not help either. She narrates, “On D-day, everyone, including my co-stars and director, was silent and glum looking. I asked them to encourage me. The moment the blade touched my hair, I broke down and looked away from the mirror. I did not see my face till it was over. But I have become comfortable now.” She also mentions that more than her, it was her parents who were worried about the loss of her lovely tresses. She quips, “My mother did not want me to do the role and since my parents are hunting for a groom for me, I thought this was a great opportunity to put a spoke in the groom-hunting wheels.”
While Shamna has been getting substantial roles in Tamil and Telugu, she rues the fact that Mollywood prefers her charms in glamour sequences and dances rather than in the acting department. “I am not called for good roles in Malayalam films for reasons which I cannot fathom. In Tamil and Telugu films, I am not called for stylish roles and often play rustic or unglamorous roles in them,” she says. She ends by saying that though she has more films in Tamil and Telugu, she loves Mollywood and has never thought of shifting base to Hyderabad or Chennai.
