Soon after the trailer as well the first song of Godha reached social media sites, there was a scramble among film buffs to find out details about the ‘female wrestler’, never seen before in any Malayalam movie. Some found that she is Wamiqa Gabbi from Punjab, a state known for its wrestling akharas (training centre). “Many people have been asking whether I am a wrestler in real life and whether I have been training in that sport since childhood.” “To be frank, I have never done any wrestling until I was called to this project,” says Wamiqa, explaining her transformation to Adhithi Singh for the Basil Joseph-directed Godha.
She has been active in films for a few years, acting in Hindi, Punjabi, Telugu and Tamil films. So how did she land up in Malayalam? “It was after watching my Tamil movie Maalai Naerathu Mayakkam, written by Selvaraghavan sir, that director Basil sir approached me. When I heard the subject, I found it very interesting, especially my character,” says the actress. Yet another factor which got her hooked to Godha is that she will be enacting the role of a Punjabi girl. “I have acted in Tamil and Telugu, languages that were alien to me. It was then that I got the call to Malayalam. Interestingly, there are no Malayalam dialogues, which makes it more comfortable for me than those previous works. Like everyone, I also want to do something different. It was then that I came across the script of this movie. How many sports movies are made these days? And, how many films based on wrestling? All these factors made this movie a unique one for me,” she says.
The question is, if not trained in wrestling, how could Wamiqa perform all those moves and fights? “After I signed this project, I went back to Punjab, to undergo training in gusthi. But I only got one month. It was later on the sets that I took further lessons in wrestling, that too just two or three days before we shot those sequences,” she recalls. It is a time when crime against women is on the rise. Does Wamiqa feel that studying martial arts can help women to protect themselves? “Obviously… I feel it is important for women as well as men. Learning any kind of martial arts will help them when faced with atrocities. There are many incidents where men are also attacked,” says the actress.
Quizzed about the similarities between Wamiqa and Adhithi, her character, she says, “Apart from that we both are from Punjab, there are some similarities between us including our attitude towards many things. I can’t reveal more about her characteristics as the movie is yet to reach screens.” The actress points out that she is not bothered about the language, when she gets a good screenplay. “I want to do good films, with good content. I am not selecting projects based on language. Malayalam industry is noted for coming up with films with strong screenplays. I have done movies in Tamil and Telugu, languages I cannot speak but can understand. That means I am ready to do films in any language, if the subject is good,” says the actress, who is currently acting in her second Tamil movie. So, when will she play a Malayali? “Of course, if I get an interesting subject, I will definitely do that,” she signs off.
