The struggle is real

Express News Service

Shooting for the thriller, Un Parvaiyil, turned out to be quite a thrilling experience for heroine Parvati. It all began with the challenges of acclimatising to the cold conditions of the mountainside of Dehradun. “As a lot of my shoot was in the open at night, we all had to negotiate the bitingly cold winds. I was dressed in light skirts and blouses, so I was literally shaking while saying my lines. After the end of each shot, I would run to a nearby campfire for a few moments of warmth!”

She also got injured while filming the stunt sequences. “One scene demanded that the villain try and strangle me. I had to scream for help, and try to escape,” recounts Parvati. “As instructed by director Kabir Lal, I lifted a heavy telephone and threw it at the villain. So involved was I that I aimed the throw well and it actually struck him. In the ensuing chaos, I also hurt myself when I fell on a table and broke it in half! My head was bleeding, as were my arms and legs.”

A doctor soon arrived to tend to her wounds, with Parvati in a daze. “It was only later when I went into my room that the seriousness of the injuries hit me. I have suffered bruises before, but this was new.” At the time, she did not know that it would be the first of a series of injuries she would suffer during the shoot.“Another scene had me being chased,” she says. “As my character is on the verge of losing her eyesight, I had to run haphazardly, trip on the hard ground, and then run into a tree. I really did all those things, to make sure the scene did not look fake!”

With a body camera fitted on her, Parvati apparently fell on the pathway and injured her hips, before running into a tree. “I ran face-first into the tree! I also suffered scratches and was in much pain, but I was glad that the shot had worked out really well.”Parvati is able to see the funny side of her experiences. “People sometimes appreciate the quality of my skin, but little do they know about all the injuries I have suffered through!”