Actor Aparna Balamurali talks about her experiences in the films, 'Sunday Holiday', 'Thrissivaperoor Kliptham', and 'Maheshinte Prathikaaram'
Aparna Balamurali looked worried as she stood on the Muzhappilangad beach in Thalasserry. Director Jis Jose, of 'Sunday Holiday', had told her she would have sit to behind hero Asif Ali on a Yamaha RX 100 bike and ride through the waves. “I had never ridden on a bike before, let alone, through the waves,” she says. This was for the song, 'Mazha Paadum', which was sung by Aparna herself and Arvind Venugopal.
What increased her nervousness was when Asif told her it was risky. “We should be careful,” said a sombre-looking Asif. Anyway, Aparna got behind Asif and the latter began slowly. “But then Asif suddenly turned up the accelerator and I started screaming.” says Aparna. “I was so scared that I would fall off.”
The scene was being shot in a bus terminus at Thirssur. Soon, Pradeep ran into the gent’s toilet. Aparna followed. Inside, Pradeep accidentally pushed against a washbasin and lost his balance. The basin fell and landed on the edge of Aparna's feet. She started bleeding. The shoot was stopped. Her feet was bandaged.
Soon, the shooting resumed. When it was over, Aparna was taken to the hospital. “It was a deep wound,” says Aparna. “The doctor said I needed stitches. I got a shock.” Today, there is a small scar on the second toe of Aparna's right feet. “This is a film which has left a permanent mark on me,” she says, with a smile. “I hope it does for my career, too.”
“In the first take, it was not clear there was a hen in the shot,” says Aparna. “In the next shot, when I jumped, the hen got scared and jumped towards me. I got really scared. So the shot had to be taken again. Thereafter, the hen did not move in the next few shots. So we took it with an unmoving hen. It was a bit disappointing.”
(The New Indian Express, Kochi, Kozhikode and Thiruvananthapuram)