Why Vidya Balan Will Find it Tough to Play Kamala Das in a Biopic

Kamala Das Surrayya was a poet, memoirist, writer and an enigma wrapped in haunting verses.

A biopic is a challenging project for any actor. But, when the biopic is based on Kamala Das Surayya, doyen of Malayalam literature and widely considered to be the ‘mother of English language poetry’ in India, the challenge becomes even more demanding.

In a new biopic titled Am, directed by renowned director Kalam, Vidya Balan will be playing Kamala Das. A poet, memoirist, writer and as a generation of Malayali households would remember her; a controversial and complex legend.

Often derided in her lifetime for being a ‘controversy seeker’, Das (who later coverted to Islam and became Kamala Surayya) was known to write haunting poetry, weaving in colloquial phrases in Malayalam, streaked with an earthiness which made her poetry immensely accessible.