Alphonse Puthren reveals Asin was initially considered for Malar in 'Premam'

Alphonse Puthren, who directed the blockbuster movie ‘Premam,’ shocked fans of the iconic romantic comedy by revealing that South Indian actress Asin was initially considered for the role of Malar Miss. The character was first conceived as someone hailing from Mattancherry. However, the makers cast Sai Pallavi in the role when the character was reimagined as a Tamilian. In an interview with a Tamil YouTube channel, Alphonse mentioned that Rajisha Vijayan also auditioned for the movie.

“Soubin’s character was already fixed. However, we were confused about whom to cast in the role played by Vinay Forrt. Even though we contacted many, no one was interested in giving auditions. When we called Chemban Vinod, he said he wouldn’t come for an audition. He thought we were calling him for a screen test. But, we had actually called him for a look test. Later, when I told him this while acting in ‘Gold,’ he laughed a lot. Vinay Forrt had studied in a film school, so he had seen lots of look tests and auditions. Vinay agreed to attend the audition as soon as we called him. He showed us different variations in which the character could be portrayed. We finalized him after selecting a style of acting that he had shown us.

Sai Pallavi also got the role through an audition, as did Madonna Sebastian and Anupama Parameswaran. Many artists who auditioned for that movie later became successful actors. I had to ask many to leave, having no idea how not to select them. We had selected Rajisha Vijayan in ‘Premam,’ but we had already roped in three actresses for the roles. So, Rajisha couldn’t act in ‘Premam.’ She was auditioned for the roles of Malar and Mary; she is now a big star.

Asin was supposed to play the role of Malar. Nivin Pauly had agreed to speak to her. That character was initially written as Mattancherry-based. But, later, the character was changed to a Tamilian, and Sai Pallavi came in through an audition. Five of us went to her house in Coimbatore to audition her. We decided she was perfect for the role,” Alphonse said.