Sai Pallavi continues to have a Kerala connection in cinema. Having made her debut as a lead actor in filmmaker Alphonse Puthren's Premam (2015), opposite Nivin Pauly, Sai would go on to star as Indhu Rebecca Varghese, who is Major Mukund Varadarajan's (Sivakarthikeyan) Malayali wife, in director Rajkumar Periasamy's 2024 film Amaran. Even for her next film Om, directed by Rajkumar himself, the actor has taken inspiration from a Malayali, this time IPS officer Merin Joseph.
In a recent conversation with Galatta Plus, Rajkumar Periasamy revealed that he gave Merin's photographs as reference for Sai Pallavi to help her portray the role with maximum authenticity in the upcoming film.
Calling Merin Joseph "a fantastic police officer," Rajkumar said that her story is also quite spectacular. While the filmmaker clarified that Sai Pallavi's role in Om is not based on Merin, he had "her as a reference" for the actor's look in the film. Similar to Merin Joseph, Sai Pallavi also sports a bob haircut in the film.
Rajkumar Periasamy also said that he referenced Merin to help Sai differentiate her character in Om from the rest of her filmography. He added that several officers in the Army and law enforcement appear differently from what stereotypical notions of masculinity and femininity would have it, and that it was important for him to show this to Sai Pallavi and make her believe it for the sake of the role. "Sai has her own distinctive skin complexion and intrinsic quality and the baggage of her previous roles. For her to look at herself different from the previous characters, she should first believe it, which is why I showed Merin Joseph ma'am to her," the filmmaker shared.
Interestingly, while Rajkumar only wanted to introduce Merin's look to Sai, the latter even spent some time with the IPS officer as part of her preparation for the role.
