Fans of actor Jyothika have now been given two reasons to celebrate. Not only is the actor's film Magalir Matum scheduled for release in a week but she also announced that she has signed a film with Director Mani Ratnam.
In an interview to Sreedhar Pillai, the actor who is enjoying much fanfare in her second innings in Tamil cinema, revealed that the film was signed over a week ago. While she did not divulge any further details about the script, she did say that shooting will begin in 2018.
"I have got the permission to announce that I have signed a film with Mani Ratnam. It happened just 10 days back," she said.
Jyothika and Mani Ratnam had last worked together in the 2001 film Dumm Dumm Dumm. However, Mani Ratnam was the producer in that film.
Jyothika has also finished shooting for Naachiyaar, directed by Bala and starring GV Prakash. It is touted to be an action thriller.
"When I was acting in the industry in my first innings, Bala was the kind of director that I hoped would cast me in their films, " said Jyothika. "And now I am so glad, that I have got to work with him at this stage of my career," she added.
But for the actor who has been very careful with the roles she chooses following her comeback to the industry, Magalir Mattum has been a learning experience. "I play the role of Prabhavathi, a documentary filmmaker in the move. She is independent and strong. The movie is about a road trip undertaken by a group of women, a line that Tamil cinema has not explored before," she says.
"During the shoot there was just so much to learn from veterans like Saranya, Urvashi and Banupriya. Saranya is superhuman and she balances so many things so well. From Urvashi ma'am, I learnt so much from observation. She just had these natural expressions that you can't help but admire. It was like when you act with Kamal Haasan, sometimes you just stare at him because there are expressions he does that you would not have expected. They go beyond any set lines. Banupriya meanwhile plays a very shy role but it was when we were dubbing that I realised how much she stands out in the film. And she is the most beautiful of us all," says Jyothika.
"These veteran female actors are all bundles of talent. It is not right for them to do characters without any meaning," stressed the actor.
Jyothika had even earlier emphasised on the importance of giving female characters important roles in films. "I don't want to just do any script that comes my way. It is okay if I even do just two or three films. But they must stay with me and the audience even 10 years later," she added.