Cold Case, the Prithviraj Sukumaran and Aditi Balan-starrer Malayalam investigative thriller film directed by Tanu Balak will premiere on Amazon Prime Video on June 30.
Aditi, who plays an investigative journalist named Medha in the film, speaks to Silverscreen India about the two investigation tracks in the triller film, ahead of its release.
“Cold Case has a mix of horror and thriller aspects. Though Prithviraj’s character and my character have two investigation tracks based on logic and supernatural elements [respectively], both of us meet at a point where our findings complement each other. So there is no right or wrong in the film,” Aditi says, adding that the film’s turning point is when both characters meet each other.
Speaking about the preparation she undertook for her role in Cold Case, Aditi says that she only watched a few horror films to “get the feel of the genre” and to understand how emotions work in such films. Her character itself did not need intensity and preparation as Cold Case is a plot-driven film, she adds. “Since the genre was completely new to me, I was not sure if my emotions were enough. Emoting fear was new. So I’d constantly ask my team if the emotions I enacted were enough,” she adds.
Aditi said that travelling and getting regular Covid-19 tests were a bit challenging as the film was shot during the pandemic.
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The actor who rose to fame with her debut performance in Aruvi, the 2016 Tamil sociopolitical film, recalls that the film taught her everything about cinema and acting. “After completing Aruvi, I was overwhelmed by the response I received and was under pressure and felt I had a responsibility while choosing future projects. Also, I did not receive as many scripts as people think. Even the ones I got were very repetitive and I thought I was being typecast. So I wanted to pick a film with a good script,” adds Aditi.
Aditi recalls that Aruvi which initially released in the theatre and did well had a greater reach when it was streamed digitally. “After watching Aruvi on the OTT platform many people across the world reached out to me appreciating my performance barring language boundaries. OTTs give a lot of avenue for artists and also bring together talents from different parts of the country and the world for projects,” says Aditi.
Elaborating on the three-year break after her first film, Aditi says, “It was very important for me as I learnt more about cinema during the break. Though I had a three-year break, when lockdown happened I did four projects [Kutty Story, Navarasa, Padavettu and Cold Case] back-to-back.”
Aditi, who was last seen in Tamil anthology film Kutty Story, in the segment titled Aadal Paadal starring Vijay Sethupathi, is also part of Netflix‘s upcoming Tamil Anthology, Navarasa, which will be produced by Mani Ratnam.
Speaking about her association with Navarasa and director Vasanth, Aditi says, “I have watched Vasanth sir’s films in my childhood. He makes family drama films and I always wanted to work with such directors from the olden times,” Aditi says adding that her segment from Navarasa was shot in Kumbakonam.
The actor also notes that Padavettu was the first Malayalam film she started shooting for, although Cold Case is the first one to release. Parts of Padavettu, which was being shot in Kannur, Kerala, are still pending, says Aditi.
That apart, the actor will also be seen in the upcoming Telugu film Shaakuntalam. Speaking about the experience of working in different languages, Aditi says, that the acting process differs based on languages. “Dialogue delivery, tone and body language differs based on the language. Working in different languages gives a wider acting scope,” she says.
Asked about her dream role, Aditi says, “I want to do sports films, comedy films and many other genres. But intense drama subjects attract me the most. However, my biggest fear is that I may become repetitive with the characters I play. I want to do different roles.”