Excelling in varied roles

With both her parents pursuing the legal profession, it was but natural that Parvathy also felt drawn towards a career as a lawyer. But then, fate intervened and she ended up as an actor. In the one decade that she has been around, Parvathy has turned into a multilingual star, winning plaudits and awards galore for her riveting performances. She was first noticed by a film-maker when she was anchoring programmes in a Malayalam channel. The director offered her the role of a college student in the film Out of Syllabus.

But Parvathy caught the eye of the audience only in her second film Notebook. A story revolving around the lives of three schoolgirls, Notebook featured Parvathy in a pivotal role and the director's gamble in casting her paid off as the film did well commercially, and the performances of the lead stars won critical acclaim. Following the success of the film, Parvathy landed roles in a few more Malayalam films, notable among them being Sathyan Anthikaad's Vinodayathra.

Her first role in a film starring a superstar was Flash,  where she shared the screen with Mohanlal and Indrajith. Although the film was directed by reputed director Sibi Malayil, it had little impact at the box office. Several other lacklustre films like City of God  followed before Parvathy came into her own with captivating portrayals in films like Bangalore Days,  Ennu Ninte Moideen  and Charlie.

The turning point

Ennu Ninte Moideen was based on a real-life romance in the 60s and 70s between a young Muslim youth Moideen (Prithviraj) and a Hindu girl Kanchanamala (Parvathy) from an orthodox family. An engaging film that held the attention of the audience, Ennu Ninte Moideen won a bagful of awards too. The role gave Parvathy an opportunity to reveal a whole gamut of emotions, and the film's success took her several rungs up the ladder as a performer.

Charlie proved to be another feather in her cap as Parvathy excelled in the role of a spirited lass, a graphic designer who hunts for the elusive hero. But her crowning glory came when she was adjudged the 'Best Actress' at the recently held International Film Festival of India
(IFFI) for her role in the film Take Off.

In this movie, her role of a nurse caught in the eye of a storm and fighting tooth and nail to get out alive from a terrorist abduction was vividly captured on screen. Her next release in Malayalam will be My Story,  where she has been paired again with her Ennu Ninte... co-star Prithviraj.

Language no barrier

Parvathy's debut in Tamil was with the film Poo. The city-bred girl, who had until then worked mostly in urban-oriented films, was cast as a young village girl in Poo. It was a challenging role as she had to familiarise herself with the language, script, and also act out intensely emotional sequences. It was her portrayal in Poo  that landed her a film opposite Dhanush, Maryan. Parvathy's lip-lock in the film raised a few eyebrows but the actor remained unfazed by the barbs that came her way. She then played an inconsequential role in Kamal Haasan's Uttama Villain,  which almost went unnoticed.

Her first film in Kannada was Milana  with the topnotch hero Puneeth Rajkumar. It was a big hit and Kannada film-makers began to make a beeline for her. She has since starred in films like Male Barali Manju Irali and Prithvi. She also has Andhar Bahar  with Shivarajkumar to her credit. Parvathy's maiden outing in Bollywood where she played the lead with internationally renowned actor Irrfan Khan was the Tanuja Chandra-directed romantic comedy Qarib Qarib Singlle. Her understated portrayal in the lead role here impressed the critics and audiences alike.

Parvathy has always been outspoken on issues like misogyny in Malayalam cinema and has recently been subjected to vicious online attacks for her condemnation of a scene in the Malayalam film Kasaba,  where the hero Mammootty is seen addressing a female colleague in a highly derogatory manner. What irked the actor all the more was that an actor like Mammootty spoke such dialogues, which she felt was an affront to the dignity of women.

When last heard, a truce had not yet been declared in this issue. Although Mammootty himself advised her not to bother about the issue, the actor's fans have already begun to target her next release. The actor, who is also a part of the 'Women's Collective in Cinema', formed by the women working in Malayalam cinema, is determined to work hard to uphold the dignity of women in the film industry.