Adah on playing Velli, revisiting Wonder Woman concept
Actress Adah Sharma, who created waves with The Kerala Story, is working on an entirely different genre – a superhero film. Here she is, discussing her role as the unconventional desi saviour of the world and her career in general.
Q How did the idea of Super Velli originate?
The idea came from asking a very important question – what if the person with superpowers is also the most ‘velli’ (lazy) person alive? It came from the observation that the world has many superheroes, but very few lazy ones. So we thought, let’s fix that gap in cinema and make the most useless, selfish, irresponsible superhero.
I think every superhero film asks ‘Who will save the world?’ Super Velli asks: ‘Is saving the world really necessary today, or can we postpone it till tomorrow? She’s unmotivated mostly, so she would rather sit at home, eat a snack and judge humanity. If people are expecting a noble warrior like ‘Wonder Woman’, they should lower their expectations immediately. ‘Super Velli’ might save the world, but only if it’s convenient for her.
Q Is this fun to play?
Playing her is great fun because after doing action, drama, horror, finally I get to play a superhero who might actually be the problem, not the solution. She’s corrupt, chaotic, lazy, possibly dangerous… basically the kind of person who should not have superpowers, which makes her perfect for the job.
Q Are you looking forward to doing all your stunts yourself?
Doing your own stunts is very addictive. It makes you feel like a superhero for those few minutes. The action team of course is always there, looking out for you, taking precautions. Not too many people know that 1920 had 28 days of action. We didn’t use CGI, AI or anything; we actually did all the stuff ourselves—I really climbed the 40-foot pillar, walked on my hands down the stairs. I thought I was very lucky to get to do all of that in my very first film.
Q Who is your favourite superhero and what do you think of indigenous superhero films like Minnal Murali and Lokah?
I think before Hollywood gave us capes and CGI, India had the ultimate superhero. My favourite—Hanumanji! He had all the powers, strength, humility, devotion, intelligence and zero ego. No gadgets, no suit. He could fly, change size, lift mountains, defeat demons and he was still so, so humble! I believe if the Avengers needed help, he could finish the job even before the team meeting started. I, as Adah (not ‘Velli’) love watching superhero films in all languages from India and the world over.
Q At this juncture of your career, what do you seek in your projects or characters?
I like picking roles like Rosie, the bold bardancer in Sunflower. Because that scares me a little and I think, how am I going to pull off such cheeky dialogues. If people can’t guess what I’ll do next, I think my career is going perfectly. I don’t have the discipline to chart out a plan, so I take a lot of decisions on intuition.
Q You are popular in Telugu and Hindi cinema. How do you divide your time and loyalty between the two?
First of all, I’d like to clarify that my loyalty is not divided; it’s multiplied. Cinema is cinema. Stories don’t check your passport before entering your heart. I would like to do films in all languages. The loyalty is to the script and audience, I feel. I have a Hindi-speaking audience which watches Telugu films of mine like Heart Attack and Kshanam and a Telugu audience which enjoys 1920. In Commando, a Hindi film, I played a Telugu character. The Kerala Story was watched by people all over the world. I go happily where the script drags me, sometimes by the hair, such as 1920.
Q Future plans?
I’m going to be doing films in languages that I haven’t done yet. There are so many film industries in India with talented directors. I’m currently shooting for one. There’s also a horror movie in Hindi, an action movie and a biopic which I’m very excited about.
