Voice Of Reason - Parvathy Thiruvothu

From kicking ass in all her roles to being unapologetically vocal about misogyny, discrimination, and everything no one else will talk about, Parvathy has the talent and the valour to do it all

- Vidya S

An actor par excellence, a director in the making, a founder, a strong feminist voice, and overall force to reckon with, it’s hard to define Parvathy Thiruvothu. Not one for labels anyway, she has been criticising the wrong attribution of a casteist surname to her.

The multilingual actor has made a mark in Malayalam, Kannada, Tamil, and Hindi during her nearly 15-year-long career. Her filmography may be shorter than that of her peers, but she sparkles in every one of her roles — a spirited paraplegic RJ Sarah in Bangalore Days, the bold village belle Panimalar in Tamil film Maryan, nurse Sameera in Take Off, or the widow Jaya Shashidharan who takes a second shot at love in her Bollywood debut Qarib Qarib Singlle.

In her latest full length role, she plays an aspiring pilot whose dreams are shattered when her toxic boyfriend throws acid on her face. In a country that sets unrealistic beauty standards for its female actors, she chose to highlight the horrific realities of gender violence. Both critically acclaimed and a box office hit, the movie came out before Bollywood’s Deepika Padukone did Chhapaak (2020).