Amala Paul is known for her performances in Tamil, Malayalam and Telegu films like Hebbuli, Ratsasam, Kuttu Story and Cadaver, to name a few. After appearing in a supporting role in the Malayalam-language film Neelathamara, Paul gained popularity for playing the titular role in Mynaa. But, after losing her father, she slowed down. While her shocking hiatus from cinema became a hot discussion among fans and movie-buffs, Amala believes that the sabbatical was necessary. After much contemplation during the peak months of Covid-19, the actress decided to step back. Now, Amala has opened up about turning down Mani Ratnam’s upcoming magnum opus Ponniyin Selvan.
In an interview with ETimes, the actress confessed, “Mani Ratnam sir auditioned me for ‘Ponniyin Selvan’ and I was so excited for that. I am a huge fan of Mani sir and I was so excited for it. And that didn’t happen at that time. I was so disappointed and sad. Then in 2021, he called me for the same project. And like I said, I was not in the mental state to do it, so I had to turn it down. If you ask me if I regret doing that, I won’t, because certain things are just perfect. It’s perfectly designed and I think it’s just about how we look at.”
Revealing more about her decision behind taking a break, Amala Paul shared that she had gotten a lot of big offers at the time when she had decided to step away from the limelight. She shared, “I didn’t want to quit film because my films were not doing film or that I was not getting any offers. I got the biggest offers of my career at that point in time but I had to say no, because I simply needed a break. I was tired, exhausted, burned out. I started in the industry since I was 17 and now I’m 30. So, you know, it’s almost 13 years of no break at all.”
She further added quoting her father’s loss, “And then I went through my personal loss, losing my father, then the pandemic happened and suddenly I was at home and I didn’t have anything to do. There were no flights to catch, meeting to attend or characters to work on. And that gave me a lot of time to connect with myself, process my emotions, my journey and my life. And I sort of realised that I was not very happy with the person that I was becoming. I felt like I was carrying too much baggage and that break phase was very cleansing for me. I call it my washing machine phase (laughs). I was literally going through so much detox and healing. I didn’t have the energy to do movies.”
Now the actress is also looking forward to enthralling the Hindi audience in Bollywood. Amala revealed, “I am working on a project with a big production house and a big actor. You can call it the perfect Bollywood launch. The official announcement should happen soon. It’s a lovely project with a big hero. I’m really happy and looking forward to it.”
Adding to this, Amala disclosed further about Bollywood actors from her bucket list with whom she would like to collaborate, “Ranveer Singh is a great actor, who has this great craftsmanship. His body of work has always excited me. Shah Rukh Khan of course, I have always been a huge fan of him. I would also like to work with Vicky Kaushal, Ranbir Kapoor and Manoj Bajpayee sir.”
Amala is currently filming for Christopher, a Malayalam thriller film helmed by Unni. It would also feature South Superstar Mammooty.
