Chennai: Actress Priyanka Arul Mohan, who has been receiving praise for her performance in Made in Korea, has revealed that food was one of the biggest challenges she faced while filming in Korea.
Speaking exclusively to IANS, the actress said she stayed in the country for more than 40 days during the shoot and found it difficult to adapt to the local cuisine.
“Food was quite a problem for me because they put red meat in most dishes,” Priyanka said. When asked if she was vegetarian, she added, “I am mostly vegetarian, but now I take a little bit of chicken.”
Apart from food, she said the unpredictable weather in Korea was another challenge during filming.
“You could have the sun shining in the morning, it would be raining by afternoon and snowing by night. Shooting in such dynamic weather conditions was definitely another challenge,” she said.
Despite the difficulties, Priyanka said the experience of working on the project — her first international collaboration — was extremely memorable, especially because of the warmth of the Korean cast and crew.
“The Korean artistes are all very down-to-earth. They rehearse a lot before going for the actual take, which was interesting to see. The Korean actor who plays the grandmother in the film was very enthusiastic. I bonded so well with everyone that I actually had withdrawal symptoms after the shoot got over and I returned home,” she said.
The actress plays Shenba, a young woman from a small village in Tamil Nadu who has never travelled beyond her familiar surroundings.
“The story is about a girl from a small village who hasn’t seen the world beyond her horizon. While playing Shenba, I felt like I was experiencing Korea through her journey,” she said.
Priyanka credited director Ra. Karthik for guiding her through the process and making the entire team feel comfortable on set.
She also shared that one Korean word she brought back home was “Kamsahamnida,” which means “thank you”.
“Every day after the shoot, everyone in the crew would bow and say those words,” she recalled.
For the uninitiated, producer Sreenidhi Sagar of Rise East Entertainment and director Ra. Karthik — the duo behind the feel-good film Nitham Oru Vaanam — have reunited for Made in Korea.
The film, starring Priyanka in the lead role, premiered directly on Netflix on March 12.
With inputs from IANS