WINGS OF FORTUNE-ROMA ASRANI

Wings of fortune

Roma Asrani shares screen space with superstar Mammootty in the film PARUNTHU, writes KK Moidu

From a promising debut to a medley of films, Roma Asrani graces the entertainment mediums with her trademark smile and charismatic appeal. She secured a place in the hearts of filmgoers by playing tomboyish campus roles in Malayalam films. She earlier refused offers for playing village-girl roles in Tamil films. The cute actress recently surprised everybody by playing a village belle, Alli, in Shakespeare MA Malayalam.
Jayasurya played the lead in the film as Shakespeare Pavithran, representing real-life characters on stage. The film, with a backdrop of a drama troupe, is directed by debutante duo Shaiju-Shaji. It is an entertainer without a super hero and venomous villain. The director duo started their career in theatre and later joined as the assistants of Anil C Menon, Akbar Jose and TK Rajeev Kumar.
Pretty Roma's performance and the success of her country girl role in Shakespeare MA Malayalam merited her a pivotal role in Parunthu. She is playing one of the heroines opposite Mammootty, a senior hero of the industry. The film tells the story of a greedy moneylender Gillette Purushothaman played by Mammootty. Parunthu is directed by M Padmakumar and the script and dialogue is by TA Rasaaq. The film also features Navneet Kaur and Lakshmi Rai in heroine roles of equal importance. Jayasurya and Kalabhavan Mani play meaningful roles in the film. Parunthu, produced by Howly Pottur under the banner of Dream Team Productions, will come to theatres during Onam as a festival release.
Roma won the hearts of fans by playing female leads exclusively with young heroes in her two-year career. She was the first choice for the heroine role in Flash opposite superstar Mohanlal. Parvathy, her co-star in Notebook, replaced her and the film was a flop at the box office.
Although Roma has not acted opposite senior heroes like Mammootty, Mohanlal and Suresh Gopi, she was lucky enough to play the ladylove of crowd-pulling young heroes like Dileep and Prithviraj. She was the love interest of Dileep in July 4 directed by Joshy, which bombed at the box office. Her pairing opposite Prithviraj in Chocolate, was a money spinner at the box office. According to reports, the remake rights of Chocolate was bought by Mirchi Movies, a subsidiary of Times Infotainment Media for a big amount. The campus love story, directed by Shafi, featured other artistes like Jayasurya, Samvrutha Sunil and Ramya Nambeesan. Chocolate gained the attention of the industry because of its rare subject. The film tells the story of a young boy who is forced to seek admission in a womens' college that is ruled by a gang of three girl members. Chocolate not only did well at the box office but it also was a turning point in Roma's career.
Roma bagged prestigious offers after the success of Chocolate and she is one of the heroines in Minnaminnikkoottam directed by Kamal. Kamal is not only a veteran in making romantic films but also an expert in giving catchy titles like Mazhayethum Munpe, Kaikudanna Nilavu, Swapnakkoodu etc. Kamal, who directed trendy and youth oriented films tells the story of the friendship and love of a group of IT engineers working in an IT park in his latest Minnaminnikkoottam. Narien, Indrajith, Jayasurya, Salim Kumar and Anoop Chandran play important roles in the film. Other two heroines of the film are Meera Jasmine and Samvrutha Sunil. Minnaminnikkoottam produced by Rakhiram under the banner of Nihar Films will be distributed by Mulakupadam release.
Roma has also signed another film Star Singer opposite Suresh Gopi. The film will be directed by Vijy Thampy. The story is based on television reality shows. Songs have importance in the film and the director launches highly popular and talented singers like Najim Arshad, Durga, Sannidhananthan, Hesham Abdul Wahab, Vani Jayaram, Amrutha Suresh, Roshan etc. of Idea Star Singer 2007, which aired on Asianet TV. The celebrity Idea Star Singer products are not only crooning for the film but also test their acting skills. Six leading music director's tunes for the film and five talented lyricists pen the lyrics. Sarath, Alphons, M Jayachandran, Ouseppachan, Mejo Joseph and Shan are the music directors and Gireesh Puthancherry, Vayalar Sarath Chandra Varma, BR Prasad, Anil Panachooran and Shibu Chakravorty are the lyricists.
Roma will play the heroine role in a campus movie Sultan opposite another young and upcoming hero Vinoo Mohan, who made a decent debut in Nivedhyam directed by Lohithadas. Sultan, directed by Sree Prakash, also features Sandhya, one of the heroines in Vinoo Mohan's recently released Cycle directed by Johnny Antony. Other important artistes of the film are Lalu Alex, Vijaya Raghavan, Jagathy and Salim Kumar.
Model turned actress Roma Asrani made her debut in the Malayalam film Notebook playing Sairah Elizabeth. The film was the second directorial venture of Roshan Andrews after superhit Udhayananu Tharam starring Mohanlal, Sreenivasan and Mukesh. Roshan repeated his success in Notebook without any star value and was praised for the strong message of the film 'children should grow up with their parents and not in boarding schools.' Notebook with beginners in the lead, set against the backdrop of a boarding school in Ootty goes deep into friendship, love and parental care in a colourful manner. Roshan Andrews will make his Bollywood entry by directing Notebook in Hindi. The film will be produced by Navajeevan Films, who made more than 30 films.
Although Roma had done many television ads earlier for big brands, the role in Notebook was a big task for the bubbly girl because of her inexperience in acting and the difficulty of understanding Malayalam. She has done several advertisement in Malayalam and Tamil such as Kalyan Sarees, Triveni Notebook, Sunny Jacob Jewellers, Swadesi Mermer, Archana Silks etc. After the success of Notebook Roma became very popular and won the Best Newcomer Awards by Film Critics, Asianet TV, Amrita TV and Kala Keralam for the film.
Roma is the daughter of Delhi-based Muralidhar and Madhu. They are settled in Chennai and run a wholesale Jewellery Shop in Chennai. After gaining fame as a heroine, Roma appeared in a music album by the band Team Malayalee with popular singer Vineeth Sreenivasan and young hero Prithviraj for the Minnel Azhake song.
She also stepped into other language films like Tamil, Telugu and Kannada within a short time. She made her Telugu debut opposite Sivaji by playing a modern girl in the film Dr Erra Babu directed by debutante K Kishore. Her male lead in Tamil film Kathale En Kathale directed by PC Shekar was Naveen. She was paired opposite Kannada golden star Ganesh in actor-director Nagasekhar's Aramane produced by K Manju.
Within a couple of years, good-looking Roma features in a prominent role in a Mammootty film in an industry where experienced heroines have to wait for a long time. Will the young and chirpy Roma fly high with her new role in Parunthu?