#BigInterview! Neha Saxena on signing Mohanlal-B Unnikrishnan film: This film is the best thing that happened to me in 2020

October 25 was a special day for actress Neha Saxena. It was the ninth day of her Navratri fasting. She was in a hurry organizing everything at her Bangalore home by 7:30 AM as it was the muhurat for Kanya puja. And she was also celebrating her birthday. Both her cellphones were flooded with calls and messages from friends and fans who were sending her birthday wishes.Neha, who is a huge devotee of Goddess Durga, wasn’t ready to give up the Navaratri puja for anything else. By afternoon, she checked her phone and upon finding a call from a new number twice, she returned the call. Neha Saxena hardly had any idea about what the unknown number was about to offer her! “The call was from filmmaker B Unnikrishnan’s team inquiring if my dates are available for his upcoming film,” recalls Neha Saxena in an exclusive interview with ETimes.
Neha Saxena is working in different entertainment industries in South Indian cinema and the Utharakand diva never misses an opportunity to hone her speaking skills in regional languages. So upon hearing that the team is approaching her from Kerala, she decided to speak in Malayalam. “I said, ‘Chetta Namaskaram, parayoo chetta, and I could already sense the relief that the person on the other side of the phone had. It’s not that they can’t respond back in English. But I guess everything gets better when it’s in a familiar language,” says Neha Saxena, who has managed to learn some decent Malayalam, in her four years span of a career in Mollywood.
“He said B Unnikrishnan is the director and they would like to know if I am interested in the project. And I jumped in joy and said ‘Yes’. This pandemic has been giving a hard time for all of us and getting a huge project like this is beyond words. I am playing an auditor in the film. He said that the director will share in-depth details of my character later and I was already going gaga to join a film that has B Unnikrishnan and scenarist Udayakrishna,” adds Neha with the same exhilaration, she probably had while receiving the call.
Neha confesses that she was ignorant about who the other casts were at that point. “So I asked him who was playing the lead. And he said that I know the actor and it's someone I have worked with. While I was trying to figure out who it was, he said, ‘Mohanlal is the hero!’. I didn’t know what to say.” The actress had earlier worked with Mohanlal in ‘Munthirivallikal Thalirkkumbol’, and refers to the opportunity of working with the superstar again as her ‘best birthday gift ever’.
Neha who is an ardent devotee of Goddess Durga considers the film offer as her blessings for the Navratri fasting. “I believe in positivity and the power of prayers. The Navaratri and my birthday coming together and receiving an interesting project on the same day turned out to be the best day ever. This film is the best thing that happened to me in 2020,” she further adds.
B Unnikrishnan joining hands with the ‘Pulimurugan’ scenarist Udayakrishna and having Mohanlal in the lead has already made headlines and the cinephiles are eagerly waiting for the film. The team is planning to go on floors by November 23.
Neha Saxena is elated to join the sets and share the screen with Mohanlal again, she says, “I am thrilled to work with him again. During ‘Munthirivallikal Thalirkkumbol’, I hardly knew a Malayalam word. Mohanlal sir helped me a lot. I remember the day while we were filming the Panchayath scene. I was nervous and was memorising my lines. Mohanlal sir explained to me what the entire scene was, how I must use my eyes and he was a supportive co-star indeed.”
When asked if she has any particular preps for the upcoming project, the actress tells us, “I am doing every bit I can. I am binge-watching our director’s films so that I get a taste of his craft. And I think knowing the language could be an add on. Also, I feel I should not be overdoing things. I want to go with a clean slate. More like clay, so that the filmmaker can mold me according to the character he has visualized.”
Speaking about language skills, the actress also shares that she has learned a lot of Malayalam during the past four years, “I wanted to learn Malayalam, for effective communication with my co-stars and the crew. And Malayalam indeed was the toughest language to learn! But now I am confident to speak and I can distinguish between a Thrissur and a Thiruvananthapuram native!”
“I am still learning and I would love to call myself an ‘aspiring actor’. I approach every film like a newbie and I hope I could learn new perspectives from this set too,” Neha Saxena sums up.