State award-winning actor Pauly Valsan, who was recently seen in Saiju Kurup-starrer 'Jai Mahendran', said there are few mothers' roles written for senior actors in Malayalam cinema. The actor acknowledged this could be due to a dearth in family dramas in present times.
"In the past, a lot of importance was given to family dramas. Now, such movies have taken a back seat making way for youth-oriented movies," she said.
She added that mothers' roles are written for younger women these days. "We have movies where there are young mothers and couples. So, I don't blame filmmakers if they have fewer roles for people like me," she said.
Despite the lack of opportunities, the theatre-artist-turned actor is all praise for youth-oriented films. "I just loved Premalu and Manjummel Boys. I went to the theatre to watch these films," she said.
The actor, who won a lot of appreciation for her work in 'Appan', is looking forward to doing similar full length, powerful roles. "However, I haven't got a similar role in the past few years. In some films, I did just one scene," she said. The actor is also remorseful, saying she hasn't been able to achieve much after coming to films. “Though there has been some more appreciation for my work, I don't think I actually achieved much after coming to Malayalam cinema. I haven't become the artist I hoped to be," she added.
The actor played a small, yet interesting role as a street food vendor in Rahul Riji Nair's 'Jai Mahendran'. “Rahul invited me to this role since I had also been part of his first movie 'Ottamuri'. There are some directors who remember their previous actors. "Amal Neerad is also one such director. If you have acted in one of his films, he tries to give you space in his next movie," she said.
Pauly Valsan will soon be seen in Honey Rose-starrer 'Rachel' directed by Anandini Bala. She said there are some pending films, but she is unsure about their production status. "In one film I played a mother of four sons, including Dileesh Pothen and Sudhi Koppa. But that film is yet to release," she said.