Director Vinayan has stepped in to clarify a long-held misconception regarding actress Divya Unni’s supposed reluctance to act opposite the late Kalabhavan Mani. He asserted that Divya was never the one to refuse the role of Mani’s heroine in ‘Vasanthiyum Lakshmiyum Pinne Njaanum’; instead, it was another actress who declined.
Popular actress Divya Unni has been away from the film industry for years. But the talented actress-cum-dancer is used to facing social media trolls for a rumor spreading about her in connection with an incident involving the late actor Kalabhavan Mani.Rumors suggested that Divya Unni once refused a romantic song sequence with Kalabhavan Mani in ‘Kalyana Saugandhikam’ and declined to act as his heroine in ‘Vasanthiyum Lakshmiyum Pinne Njaanum’. Now, director Vinayan has come forward and brushed off the rumors.
Vinayan breaks his silence
Director Vinayan, who helmed both films, has now come forward to clear the air. In a social media post, he clarified that it was not Divya Unni who refused to play Mani’s heroine in Vasanthiyum Lakshmiyum. “It wasn’t that film. A well-known actress made that remark, but it was never Divya. I have never revealed her name,” Vinayan wrote, responding to a fan’s query.
Clearing the misunderstanding
Vinayan also explained that in ‘Kalyana Saugandhikam’, a love scene in a song led to a light-hearted exchange. At just 14 and a newcomer, Divya had expressed her wish to act only with her debut co-star Dileep. “When I explained, she understood and did the scene gracefully,” he noted. He stressed that people had wrongly connected Mani’s humorous interview comments with another incident from ‘Vasanthiyum Lakshmiyum’. This led to creating false narratives. Vinayan concluded by emphasizing, “The actress who expressed difficulty in acting in Vasanthiyum was never Divya Unni. We never even asked her. I had referred to the incident of a different actress during Chalakkudikkaran Changathi. I wrote this now so that everyone finally knows the truth behind what people keep repeating.”On the work front, Vinayan made his grand comeback recently in 2022, after a series of flops, with the Siju Wilson starrer ‘Pathonpatham Noottandu’, which turned out to be a superhit.
