Arun Gopy’s second film Irupathiyonnam Noottaandu has Pranav Mohanlal paired opposite a newcomer, Rachel David aka Zaya David. “The ‘Zaya’ comes from my character’s name in the film,” says the Bangalore-based model-turned-actor, whose mother hails from Chengannur and father from Kozhikode.

“I didn’t plan on becoming an actor. It just happened by accident,” says Rachel. “But I was driven by the need to be successful at something. I wanted to make it big in whatever I do. It was after some offers started coming in that I seriously started considering acting as a career. So, after my graduation, I enrolled in Anupam Kher’s acting school.”

In Irupathiyonnam Noottandu, Rachel plays a sweet, fun-loving, and adventurous girl. She says the experience of working on the film was a very memorable one. “I didn’t feel like a newcomer on set. Pranav was so comfortable to work with. He comes off as this shy and reserved person, but once you get to know him well, you’ll see that he is very outgoing. He is willing to step out of his comfort zone for his character. In this film, he does a lot of things — dancing, surfing, stunts — and it surprised all of us. Once he puts his mind to something, he goes about achieving it.”

Rachel calls director Arun Gopy a determined filmmaker. “Arun gave me the freedom to explore my character as I understood it, and gave me the option to try out different things. If something didn’t work out, he would patiently explain everything.” She adds that since this film comes with a lot of expectations, both Arun and producer Tomichan Mulakupadam made sure that they got everything right.

Irupathiyonnam Noottaandu also stars Gokul Suresh, Manoj K Jayan, Dharmajan Bolgatty, Siddique, and Innocent. With cinematography by Abhinandhan Ramanujam and editing by Vivek Harshan, the film has music by Gopi Sundar.