Janhvi Kapoor’s casting as a Malayali girl in her upcoming romantic-drama, Param Sundari has generated lot of heat online. Earlier, Malayali singer, Pavithra Menon expressed her disappointment seeing Janhvi in the film in place of a native speaker. Now, Malayali influencer Divya Nair has criticised Janvhi’s diction as seen in the trailer of the film.
Divya had posted a video on Instagram where she slammed Janhvi’s portrayal in the film and how her dialogues were incomprehensible. Her video got copyright strike and was taken down.
Divya spoke about it to Mid-day and said, “Poor diction can sometimes be forgiven, but here, the Malayalam words itself aren’t clear or correct. The film was shot in Kerala on a massive budget. Why couldn’t the makers spend a fraction of that money on hiring a local dialect coach? Also, in the scene where Janhvi introduces herself as Theykkapetta Sundari Damodaran Pillai, the result is unintentionally hilarious as in Malayalam, ‘Theykkapetta’ is slang for someone dumped.”
She added, “Bollywood had better options. Nayanthara, Keerthy Suresh, Nithya Menen, Sai Pallavi, or Samantha (Ruth Prabhu) put in effort and respect the languages they work in. They would have done justice to the role… Not every Malayali woman walks around in a saree, sporting jasmine flowers and a bindi.”
Earlier, Janvhi spoke of her character in the film and said, “She is deeply personal to me. Her grace, quiet strength, and love for her roots resonate with my own South Indian heritage. Shooting in Kerala, surrounded by such beauty, I felt an emotional connection to her world that I hope the audience will feel too.”
Param Sundari also stars Sidharth Malhotra in the lead along with Sanjay Kapoor, Renji Panicker, Manjot Singh, Siddhartha Shankar and Inayat Verma. It has been directed by Tushar Jalota. The film is set to be released in theatres on August 29.
