00:00No, I've stopped kind of limiting myself in the sense of I would love to do this, I would love to do that.
00:05I'm just, I love the surprises when things come my way.
00:10Good afternoon, this is Manjusha Radhakrishnan from Gulf News.
00:13I'm here with the talented cast and crew of King of Kota.
00:17And here is a gangster, he plays an on-screen gangster.
00:20And I'm assuming these two women are his models or what's happening?
00:23Or did I just make a deduction?
00:25They will let us know.
00:27Firstly, you know, King of Kota looks like a gangster, very testosterone-charged film.
00:32There's a lot of actual women characters in the film.
00:36And whether they're sisters or mothers or lovers or anything,
00:40they all really are pivotal in driving the story forward.
00:43They're the ones who pull it in different directions.
00:46They are the root cause of a lot of the conflicts in the film.
00:49Beyond just being the genre-specific as a gangster film or a commercial,
00:55this class versus mass film, whatever the debate that's going on,
00:59it has a great storyline.
01:00It's very character-driven.
01:02And everybody kind of is integral to take this forward or give a direction in any which way.
01:11And definitely, I think the women play the crucial conflicts, I think, come through.
01:19But what about the movie attracted you women as well?
01:21I think women have got some serious role to play in this film.
01:25And to me, I'm sure you've seen my Mariam had an interview during Mariam Jo's.
01:31And I think after Mariam, this is one of the strongest character I got to play.
01:34So, I played that in 2018.
01:36Now we're in 2023.
01:38So, I close this character really close to my heart.
01:41And I should say that prominent women in this film.
01:44To say about the character, she is a very strong female character as well, just like Naila.
01:48Naila's character name is Manju.
01:51So, I actually had one thing when I heard this story.
01:55I was like, oh, I would kill to play Manju.
01:58That's what I actually thought.
01:59I kept saying that.
02:00Really?
02:01I kept saying that.
02:02Oh, I love that character.
02:05Maybe someday, somebody will approach me.
02:08I didn't ask for the character because I love Tara as well.
02:11But I loved Manju.
02:12What do you think is a fascination with crime genre actually?
02:15We've all been raised to be righteous and do good.
02:20Whether it's society will judge us or us, Malayalees living in Kerala.
02:27Most of our lives are decided by what will people say, what will people think.
02:32So, I think we're all so limited in the way even we react, how we react to a situation.
02:39I can't react so loudly or if you don't talk back to this person or like,
02:44oh, you made that situation very uncomfortable, you know.
02:48And if ever I do react, not just because I'm an actor or anything, even in a very
02:54closed setting, I will be told off saying, you know, that was not right.
02:58You should think before you act.
03:00And all of this, I think we're all been conditioned so much that when we see these
03:03people or whether it's crime or gangster or anyone living so freely.
03:10And like, yeah, it's vicarious fun to be had.
03:13Yeah.
03:14And they are not afraid of judgment.
03:15They're not afraid of even the law.
03:19So, I think none of us can really be those people.
03:21So, I think in those two hours that we watch a film, you get to kind of be them for that period.
03:27So, I have an affinity towards those kind of women.
03:29And luckily, I get to play one.
03:31So, like you said, you know, in our lives, in our real lives,
03:34you don't obviously get a chance to play that.
03:36But at least in movies, you can say that if, you know,
03:39your husband, your partner or whoever you hate in such a way, you know,
03:43get a gang ready to beat them up and all that.
03:45Yeah, just kill them.
03:46Yeah, yeah, yeah.
03:47It's always good to give a quotation, right?
03:48But don't take us wrong.
03:50King of Kota is not just a gangster drama.
03:52It's got a lot of other elements to it.
03:54It is definitely a gangster drama, but it has got a lot of other elements.
03:57There's not like a bloodshed and mass element.
04:00So, I know, I know this is what is in your head, Manjusha.
04:03Yes, I assume.
04:04Yeah, King of Kota has got a lot of layers to it.
04:07It's got a lot of characters, a lot of emotions.
04:09It's a complete Malayalam cinema, I would say.
04:11How about you?
04:13I know you like to play women, complex women like the one she is.
04:17I like to play complex women.
04:18I like to play intense characters, but I watch K-dramas.
04:23I watch those very easy on the heart, easy on the brain stuff.
04:27I think your dreams have been fulfilled, right?
04:28You are playing an unapologetic gangster, morally very unscrupulous.
04:33Are you loving it or is it as much fun as it is to, you know?
04:37I just love this, living out all of these lives.
04:40I think jumping in from character to character, language to language, genre to genre.
04:45And so now I've stopped kind of limiting myself in the sense of,
04:49I would love to do this, I would love to do that.
04:51I'm just, I love the surprises when things come my way.
04:55Even though the most popular term in the Indian film industry now is manifesting.
05:00And so now I'm like, I don't even know if I want to manifest anything.
05:02Because I'm just, I love, I count my blessings every day.
05:05I love everything that's coming my way.
05:06And I want to stay open.
05:08If you guys had one superpower, what would it be and why?
05:11Think about this movie and then perhaps you can answer.
05:14One superpower, a super weapon.
05:15If I had a superpower, I would make sure that all of the movies that I am a part of,
05:22is entertaining to the audience.
05:24My only conflict in life is migrating to do the films, as many films as possible.
05:29And spending time at home.
05:31So if there's some way to crack that.
05:32Okay.
05:33If I could freeze time where I've given enough in one place.
05:37And then I can hit pause there.
05:40And then go to my work and give enough time there.
05:42Hit pause there, come back here.
05:43If there's some way of doing that, I would be the happiest human on the planet.
05:47I juggle a lot of professions.
05:49I'm here on video, I'm not there.
05:51I want to do a lot of movies.
05:53Of course, good ones that come my way.
05:55And I want to be here in Dubai.
05:56I want to enjoy shopping in the mall and everything.
05:58So yeah, if I can be there and here at the same time.
06:02Like multiple versions of me.
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