Leading Malayalam actress Anna Ben is known best for her performances in Kumbalangi Nights, Helen, Kappela, Naradan, and Night Drive, and will grace the Tamil cinema screens next in the much-awaited Kottukkaali directed by Koozhangal fame PS Vinothrajwhich was earlier this week announced to be premiering at the prestigious 74th Berlin International Film Festival soon. Cast as Soori's pair in the upcoming film bankrolled by actor Sivakarthikeyan, Anna Ben took part in a special interview some time back with National Award-winning film critic Baradwaj Rangan, the Editor-in-Chief of Galatta Plus, and spoke about the challenges in speaking Tamil language for her role in Kottukkaali, while also opening up on the complete learning process.
Talking about the assurance and the confidence Kottukkaali's director PS Vinothraj gave her, Anna Ben explained, "One very interesting thing about the film is I don't have many dialogues. That's the first thing the director told me because it's a very rooted film. So, when he narrated the story, he said, 'You don't have to worry. You basically have like two lines.' And, I was like, 'Okay. So, that's a good thing.' But, interestingly enough, once I went there, nobody speaks anything but Tamil. Like no English, no Malayalam, nothing. So, everyone speaks Tamil, and I was automatically learning the language to communicate, even with the director. It was much easier to communicate in Tamil. So, I did know a little bit, but not to the extent of how they speak and how they communicate. But, I've really learned the language much better. Like I left really speaking it to all the people and then communicating just in Tamil. Even my team, they picked up the language and we were talking in Tamil to each other. I think that was a big win for me to learn the language at that point."
Watch Anna Ben in conversation with Baradwaj Rangan in the video below:
