‘ARM is like an Onam Sadhya’

Tovino Thomas has grown from strength to strength in his career and has slowly but steadily emerged as the pan-India hero to look out for in Kerala. After Thallumaala, Minnal Murali and 2018, the actor is coming forth with another film called ARM. ARM is short for Ajayante Randam Moshanam or Ajay’s second robbery. Telugu star Krithi Shetty will be making her Malayalam debut with this film. Veteran actress Rohini is also playing an important role in the film. The film is being helmed by Jithin Lal, a newcomer. 

 When enquired about the title and why they opted an abbreviation rather than a translation, Tovino reveals that RRR was an inspiration, saying, “When RRR came out, it was so simple to pronounce and remember the title. It had great recall value and could be easily dropped in conversations. We are hoping to achieve the same with ARM, which is why we just shortened Ajayante Randam Moshanam to ARM, instead of translating the title to Telugu.” 

Tovino is playing three roles in the film. Krithi Shetty will be playing the love interest of one of Tovino’s characters. When enquired about how she prepared for the language and her role, Krithi explains, “I am very particular about knowing the language before deciding to work in a particular industry. That is how I started my careers in Telugu and Tamil. But Malayalam is a whole other ballgame. It is a much more challenging language. I,however,got a lot of help on the sets. I would also request for voice-notes of dialogues to be sent ahead of time, so that I could be better prepared.” Krithi then goes on to praise her crew, adding, “They never made me feel uncomfortable or out-of-place because I am new Malayalam cinema. That eventually helped me to act better.”  

While Rohini is familiar to Telugu cinema as the go-to choice for playing mothers, she has had a glorious career in Malayalam cinema as a leading lady. The actress, who speaks fluent Malayalam, says, “Most of my heroine roles back in the day were in Malayalam cinema itself. The industry taught me a lot about acting, especially the natural style of acting. Malayalam industry has a close place in my heart, because of which I am extra careful while picking scripts. I don’t do as many projects there as I do here or in Tamil for this very reason. 

The three actors have also likened ARM to an Onam Sadhya, an elaborate traditional vegetarian feast eaten on the last day of Onam. Tovino says, “Just like how you have your chips, pickles, curries and payasams all arranged in one long banana leaf, you have action, drama, romance, horror — a bit of everything in ARM.”