A NEW APPROACH

Malayalam film actor and Oxford graduate Santhy Balachandran used her anthropology background to conceptualise an avantgarde music video

What Santhy Balachandran enjoyed studying most at college was social psychology. Years later – after she completed her Master’s in visual anthropology from the University of Oxford and became a famed Malayalam actor – it was this subject that inspired the theme of her lockdown music video project, Oblivion, launched this summer by iconic music director AR Rahman.

“I am fascinated by how culture influences perception,” says Santhy, who made her acting debut in the 2017 Malayalam film Tharangam, a fantasy black comedy directed by Dominic Arun. She shot to mainstream fame when her third film, Jallikkattu (2019), directed by Lijo Jose Pellissery, became a box-office hit. With three more film projects paused or postponed during the pandemic, an opportunity to work once again with Dominic – this time on an independent music video – drew her interest.