Roshan Mathew, Darshana Rajendran on why it is exciting to do multi-lingual films: 'You don’t get to do…’
In an exclusive chat with OTTplay, Roshan Mathew and Darshana Rajendran spoke to us about the politics of language and why it is exciting to do multi-lingual films like Paradise.
Last Updated: 10.33 PM, Jul 08, 2025
Roshan Mathew and Darshana Rajendran starred in the lead roles in Paradise, which is written and helmed by Sri Lankan filmmaker Prasanna Vithanage. Paradise owned the label of multi-lingual film as it featured a Malayali couple in Sri Lanka, with conversations in Malayalam, English, Tamil and Sinhala throughout the movie. In an exclusive chat with OTTplay, Roshan Mathew and Darshana Rajendran spoke to us about the politics of language and why it is exciting to do multi-lingual films like Paradise.
Roshan Mathew and Darshana on Paradise
The 2022 film Paradise featured Malayalam actors Roshan Mathew and Darshana Rajendran as the married couple - Keshav and Amritha, who also feel rattled by the economic crisis in Sri Lanka while on a visit. Much of the cast and crew for Paradise were from Sri Lanka, so it was left to the lead actors to come up with their own lines in Malayalam.
Talking about her experience, Darshana says, “Language-wise, this was a new feeling for me. I thought it very exciting to explore languages the way we did.We are all people who speak in multiple languages. To some people, we speak in a certain language and within our group also, we switch between languages. Why is Keshav speaking to me in Malayalam in front of somebody who doesn't understand it? What is the politics of language was something we really had fun with.”
While insisting that it was a great experience, Darshana said, “We had the liberty to go to all languages we had - like how we would speak, if we went to Sri Lanka. Like these are the languages we know and what we can converse in. You don’t get to do a lot of that in films.”
Darshana has been a part of both Malayalam and Tamil films, and also has a Telugu film Paradha coming up with Anupama Parameswaran.
Roshan Mathew too talks about the relevance of multi-lingual films like Paradise, given that none of us are restricting ourselves to one language.
“I am very very excited about films like Paradise, which explores multiple languages also. Especially in a country like India, and in today's world where almost all of us are surrounded by or part of polyglot communities,” he explained.
“There is lot more scope and potential for films like Paradise that are multi-lingual in nature. So that kind of gives you access to a more honest and realistic storytelling rather than everyone talking in one language,” opined the actor, who was recently seen in the Malayalam film Ronth. Prior to that, he headlined the Hindi web series Kankhajura, which is now streaming on SonyLiv and OTTplay Premium.