Malavika Mohanan reveals how Dhanush taught her to 'romance the camera'
ETimes | May 15, 2026 10:39 PM CST
Actress Malavika Mohanan who worked with Tamil star Dhanush in the 2022 action thriller ‘Maaran,’ recently shared her experience working with the actor. She went on to talk about the technicality of acting that she learned from him.
Malavika Mohanan speaks about the technical part in actingWhile speaking with Variety India, Malavika Mohanan shared that acting is a technical game and even if you’re a good actor, knowing how to play with the camera takes you to the next step. She said, “From Dhanush, I learned so much about the technicality of acting. Acting is such a technical game; you could be a good actor, but if you don’t know how to play with the camera or how to register emotions on camera, then it’s a moot exercise.”
Malavika Mohanan on learning to ‘ romance the camera ’She further shared that Dhanush taught her how to use emotions well with the camera. “He taught me how to ‘romance the camera,’ how to use my eyes, angle my face for certain emotions, and even how to perform differently for 48 frames instead of 24,” she added.
Scene that changed Malavika Mohanan’s perspectiveDuring the conversation, she also recalled a crying scene that looked much better on camera after Dhanush guided her with small technical details. She said, “I remember doing a scene in a police station where I was crying in a loud, grotesque manner. But because the shot was in slow motion, it looked distracting on playback. And Dhanush was like, ‘No, it’s not working. Why don’t you internalize the crying?’ He asked me to make it tighter and more restrained, and then the shot looked so much better. It sounds like a small thing, but technical details like that, which I learned from him, prepped me so much as an actor.”
On the work front, Malavika Mohanan is working on her upcoming Tamil movie tentatively called ‘ Pocket Novel ’ along with Vijay Sethupathi and will be next seen in ‘ Sardar 2 ’ sharing space with Karthi.
Malavika Mohanan speaks about the technical part in actingWhile speaking with Variety India, Malavika Mohanan shared that acting is a technical game and even if you’re a good actor, knowing how to play with the camera takes you to the next step. She said, “From Dhanush, I learned so much about the technicality of acting. Acting is such a technical game; you could be a good actor, but if you don’t know how to play with the camera or how to register emotions on camera, then it’s a moot exercise.”
Malavika Mohanan on learning to ‘ romance the camera ’She further shared that Dhanush taught her how to use emotions well with the camera. “He taught me how to ‘romance the camera,’ how to use my eyes, angle my face for certain emotions, and even how to perform differently for 48 frames instead of 24,” she added.
Scene that changed Malavika Mohanan’s perspectiveDuring the conversation, she also recalled a crying scene that looked much better on camera after Dhanush guided her with small technical details. She said, “I remember doing a scene in a police station where I was crying in a loud, grotesque manner. But because the shot was in slow motion, it looked distracting on playback. And Dhanush was like, ‘No, it’s not working. Why don’t you internalize the crying?’ He asked me to make it tighter and more restrained, and then the shot looked so much better. It sounds like a small thing, but technical details like that, which I learned from him, prepped me so much as an actor.”
On the work front, Malavika Mohanan is working on her upcoming Tamil movie tentatively called ‘ Pocket Novel ’ along with Vijay Sethupathi and will be next seen in ‘ Sardar 2 ’ sharing space with Karthi.
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