“The secret of her long hair”
“Who will Malar fall in love with?”
“Not a dancer, learnt watching Aishwarya Rai”.
It isn’t an exaggeration to say that stories about actor Sai Pallavi aka Malar (from the hugely popular Malayalam film, Premam) appear on a daily basis. Whether they are testimonies to her hair or beauty, or a comment on her love interest or family, Sai Pallavi stories are all over the place.
The lass with a husky voice captured the average Malayali’s imagination, with her portrayal of a young teacher in the movie.
Premam released in May, and its lead protagonist Nivin Pauly has been in the news for his other movies and a state award. Sai Pallavi has not done anything particularly special to be in the news throughout.
Why are we Being Given a Sai Pallavi Story a Day?
Simple, she is the latest ‘pure gold’ click bait.
Premam is a movie that has been discussed a lot. And every time Premam comes under the spotlight, Sai Pallavi also becomes eye of cynosure. There is a lot of interest about her.
— RK Honey, web team, Asianet
He says that the website gets good traffic for any story that mentions the actor.
Tremendous Audience Response
The web editors of one of the leading papers in Kerala said the audience response to a story about Sai Pallavi is tremendous.
“We get a lot of comments, shares and even letters. The interest in her is just not diminishing. Malar and Sai Pallavi is the latest trend now, we think it will sustain for another month,” he said.
According to both the editors, initially it was the other heroine from the movie, Anupama Parameswaran, who was popular. However, after the movie became a blockbuster hit, it was Nivin and Sai Pallavi who were the audience favourites. Interest in Sai Pallavi peaked once again after Onam was celebrated in many colleges the ‘Premam’ way.
“We get many shares on Facebook for a story that features Sai Pallavi. It could range from 600 to 1000 for even an ordinary story. Which is why even the reports about Premam being remade in Hindi were concentrating on who will play Malar,” says another editor.
Why Do People Love Sai Pallavi?
Perhaps it’s because how ordinary her role was. She looked very much like the girl-next-door, and beautiful in a believable way, instead of the airbrushed and botoxed beauties we get to see. Her hair is unusually done; she has a heavy voice, piercing eyes and an attitude which is both authoritative and submissive.
And until the next character comes along, who captures the public imagination, Malar it is. Click away.
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