From Kamal Haasan to Urvashi: 'Aasha' director reveals how the protagonist changed

Anyone who has watched the recent Malayalam film 'Aasha' would probably agree on one thing: the film belongs to Urvashi. The actor slips into the titular character so completely that, at times, it becomes difficult to separate Urvashi from Aasha. Her fears, anxieties and emotional turmoil are not merely visible on screen; they feel almost palpable.

Director Safar Sanal agrees. In fact, for him, Urvashi became Aasha even before she stepped onto the set. “The moment she stepped out of the caravan, she was Aasha,” he says, recalling how the actor carried a part of the character with her onto the sets. “It was fascinating to watch Urvashi chechi on the film set. She is always in character, but after every take, she would quickly switch out of it. That itself was fascinating to watch,” Safar says.

But there was one particular scene when even that familiar transition seemed to disappear. It was a crucial, emotionally charged moment between Aasha and her onscreen daughter, played by Aishwarya Lekshmi. Safar remembers watching Urvashi almost lose herself in the scene.

“I had briefed her about what I wanted and even hinted that she could express her anger and frustration in a certain way. But soon after that pivotal take, Urvashi was still in character. She hit the wall really hard and broke down. It was a very overwhelming scene for all of us to watch,” he recalls.

For Safar, 'Aasha' is also the culmination of a journey that began several years ago. He entered the film industry as a co-writer on Joju George’s 2022 film Peace and later worked as an associate director with him on Pani, Joju’s directorial debut. He credits Joju’s support as one of the biggest reasons why Aasha eventually became the film it is today.

“When we got this thread in 2019, Ramesh Girija and I were just starting out in the industry. We had no real support. That was when Joju George got into the picture. We had envisioned one of the main characters with Joju George, but we needed someone to headline the film, someone who would play the protagonist. This project became much bigger because of Joju chettan. He was involved in the entire process right from the beginning,” he says.

Though the protagonist was envisioned as a woman initially, Safar says that as the project grew, the team began considering male actors, even discussing the possibility of bringing in a superstar like Kamal Haasan.

“Joju chettan was close to Kamal Haasan, and he was one of our first choices to play the role that Urvashi eventually played. We started working on the central character as a man. But as time progressed, we came back to the central theme of a woman like Aasha. I am glad we did that because it gave us the opportunity to explore a different side of a woman, something that is not usually the norm in Malayalam cinema,” Safar says. And when the script finally reached Urvashi, the response was everything the team had hoped for.

“She was extremely thrilled when she heard the script because the character was something that had never been attempted here in Malayalam cinema. She was very grateful and said she had been waiting for a character like Aasha, something that had never come to her before,” he says. The team, however, took their time before approaching her. They knew that an actor of Urvashi’s stature would not sign a film simply for the sake of it.

“We took a lot of time to bring the topic to her and approach her because we knew Urvashi would only agree if she was satisfied with the character she was playing. To our huge relief and happiness, she got involved with the character within 10 minutes of hearing the script. She started asking a lot of questions, and those questions were crucial in shaping the character,” Safar recalls.

Bhagyalakshmi and Urvashi’s meeting
One of the film’s early scenes features an encounter between Bhagyalakshmi and Urvashi at a bank. Considering Bhagyalakshmi has lent her voice to several of Urvashi’s iconic characters over the years, the scene almost feels like a meeting of two familiar voices from Malayalam cinema.

Was it intended as a tribute? Safar laughs at the suggestion. “No, we didn’t cast her thinking about that. Bhagyalakshmi chechi was Joju chettan’s choice. We needed someone for a cameo, and he suggested her. In fact, we had an extended scene with her character, but we eventually had to chop it down,” he says.

Safar says one of the biggest decisions they made while making Aasha was to remain firmly within the protagonist’s perspective. No matter how interesting another character or storyline was, the film could not afford to lose sight of Aasha.

“We made the film with the perspective that we should never go astray from Aasha’s point of view. That is why certain threads, including the one involving her daughter and even Santhosh chettan, played by Vijayaraghavan, were not explored fully,” he explains.

For the young filmmaker, working with a cast packed with experienced actors was itself a learning experience. He considers himself fortunate to have had veterans who not only understood what the film needed but also brought their own experience and instincts into their performances. “I feel blessed to have worked with the entire cast. They are all veterans, and every one of them did their best to elevate the film,” Safar adds.