Darshana Rajendran on Why 'Paradha' Is Path-Breaking, And Learning a New Language For Her Telugu Debut

Darshana Rajendran loves doing cinema on her own terms. This might mean playing a wife who calmly picks up some Taekwondo to combat her abusive husband at home, leading Jaya Jaya Jaya Hey (2022) or playing a tiny yet poignant role of a friend (she soon came to be known as the Baawra Mann girl) in Mayaanadhi (2017). It’s not that Darshana is doing this by design, but this is all she knows.

She has no qualms playing a supporting character in a film. A rich background in theatre taught her to look at roles for what they are. “I've done like 90 days of rehearsals for a play in which I have had one scene,” says Darshana in an interview with The Hollywood Reporter India. “From the beginning, I was told, 'Don't do that.' You are always going to be a supporting character, and I was meant for bigger things. But coming from theatre, I never really thought of this as the bigger thing.”

Darshana is Amishta, an overachieving working woman, who navigates female friendships and patriarchy in her upcoming Telugu film debut Paradha, which co-stars Anupama Parameswaran (Subbu) and Sangeetha Krish. But this, too, is a supporting role, she clarifies. “We are telling Subbu's story. If it came to me when I was doing a stage play, I wouldn't have even thought twice about it. So the same applies to my choices in films. As an actor, if I'm excited by it, I refuse to look at anything else.”

Excerpts from an interview:

How did you become part of Paradha?

I'd heard about Praveen (Kandregula, the director) and how he was the new interesting voice in the space when his film Cinema Bandi (2021) was out. When he got in touch, I heard the narration, and it felt like a film that was happening in a world that doesn't do too many of those. It was new to Telugu cinema, and just the fact that there were a bunch of people who came together to tell the story of three women without a hero was lovely. They were planning to do it in a really big way; I wanted to be part of something like this.

Going by the trailer, it feels like a natural extension of your body of work. Tell us about your character?

I play Amishta, who is very similar to me in terms of the context of our upbringing. But she is an overachiever who has to keep fighting to stay on top in a corporate set-up. Her idea of how she wants to fight patriarchy is very different from how I think about the world. She feels the need to be one of the men to be on top, and looks down upon anything that she thinks is feminine. It was nice to explore someone like her and understand that these were defence mechanisms that she's had to develop. On top of it all, she's an annoying person, but it required me to make sure she was likeable. I had thousands of challenges while playing her, but I'll always remember her.

What were the challenges in playing her apart from getting into her mindspace?

The language was primarily a challenge. It took a lot of work to be able to think comfortably in Telugu. She is angsty, irritated, and doesn't have time, she is constantly speaking fast, and I wasn't equipped to do it immediately. But I didn't want to think of language as a crutch to stop myself from expressing Amishta's angst. She is driving throughout the whole film, even on mountains, and that required me to quickly get up to speed. While doing all of this, I had to understand and respond to the women (in the film) in Telugu. I felt very charged and alive trying to navigate this.

Did you have to learn Telugu for the film?

I went to secret online classes with fake names and did homework (laughs). I had a bunch of ADs and writers help me with my lines. Prahaas (co-writer of the film) was on a call with me throughout the film. I knew I didn't have enough time to get proficient in the language, but I got to a point where I was able to understand when someone spoke to me. You get very little time to explore a new world... but I wanted to make the most of it.

As an actor, what pushes you into taking up such a challenge outside your comfort zone, when you’ve already established yourself in your industry?

I really thought Paradha is path-breaking. It was so visibly very risky because it's not like ten other people are doing this or have done it earlier. When I heard Jaya…Hey as well, I thought it was so impossible, but it drove me. I remember calling him (director Vipin Das) that day and asking how soon I could start Taekwondo classes. When things feel impossible, you want to work it out as an actor. 

You've played so many terrific feminist women over the years, from Jaya Jaya Jaya Hey to the intricate Paradise. What are the things you've enjoyed over the years?

Anybody who knows me or has worked with me sees how annoyingly grateful and hopeful I am about the job I get to do. I am constantly filled with a lot of gratitude. As somebody who didn't plan a career in films, acting fell into my lap. Acting gives me purpose. When you get into an industry like this, there are always these rules that get passed on. You're expected to fit into a role that is already set. Over the years, I've learnt that I can do it in my way. The kind of routes I have taken haven't been very conventional. And it's okay. The reason I am able to do it happily is that I am doing it on my own terms. 

We don't have a lot of female buddy films. How was it to share screen space with three women?

I'm sure you and I have so many incredible women in our lives. We get to share different kinds of bonds with them, but we don't get to explore that in films. I have gotten to do a little bit of it in Mayaanadhi or Thuramukham. But you don't get to travel with the women apart from a few scenes. I don't understand why we don't have more such films!