Photo by Jasmine Ruparelia
By Jana Monji, AsAmNews Art & Culture Writer
Drowning on your birthday seems like a real life horror story, but for the cast of Evil Eye, the water logged last day of shooting was a blast although not everyone was totally in on the fun at the time.
Blumhouse ‘s Production Evil Eye is a film about an Asian Indian family who is living apart. The mother Usha (Sarita Choudhury) and father Krishnan (Bernard White) have returned to India. The daughter Pallavi (Sunita Mani) remains in the United States. The mother has flashbacks of a bridge, water and a man from her past; she’s fearful that her daughter will also be unlucky in love, even when Pallavi meets a wealthy Indian boyfriend, Sandeep (Omar Maskati).
The cast shot a drowning scene on the last day of filming, which coincided with Mani’s birthday. And drowning, at least in the movie, was “surprisingly so much fun.” The three main cast members had one task that day.
“You are harnessed and you’re pulled under by these divers in full breathing apparatus,” Mani explained. “I was super excited for it.”
The cast thought things went swimmingly, so much so that the last day of filming was a let down. After Choudhury was done being dunked, there was lunch and it was rather unceremonious.
“I wanted a lot of attention,” Choudhury said.
But all she ended up with was wet hair.
When asked if there was any horror or humor during filming, Maskati mentioned he wasn’t too pleased when Mani tried to drag him back into the water–after he was done filming and changed back into his own clothes. Although he was horrified then, he can laugh at it now.
“I was just trying to say goodbye,” Mani said.
Maskati pegged Mani as that one member you had to watch out for saying that when he met her initially he was “not that weirded out.” Mani remembers their first meeting a little differently.
“Meeting Omar for the first time was funny to me because I was a day or two ahead in the production process,” she said.
That day, the makeup department was trying out looks for her character and she got “very long luscious hair extensions.”
“I was emerging from four hours of hair and make up and I met Omar for the first time and I said, ‘This is me now,'” Mani said. “‘This is who you are meeting now.’ I was just like a very weird version of myself and I was kind of trying to relay that and he had no idea what I was talking about.”
Personally, Choudhury and Mani have different experiences related to the evil eye. Choudhury’s father was a scientist so superstition related to the evil eye and karma “wasn’t a part of [her] daily life.” When she went to relatives’ houses, she’d see altars “that had to be in a certain place” and “all that has to do with karma and if you don’t do it something will happen later.” Although she admitted that as she got older, “something would happen and I would remember my auntie saying something.”
As a Choudhury did have some irrational fears. She clearly remembers “the hanger that became the man” and feeling if she got out of bed the hanger would be a man.
“The subconscious really lives at night,” Choudhury said.
Both Mani and Choudhury watched horror films at a young age. The movie that struck Choudhury with fear was, The Shining. Growing up the film that gave Mani nightmares was the The Wizard of Oz because she found the witch frightening. Likewise, Mani found Maleficent in the original Disney animated feature, Sleeping Beauty, terrifying.
For Mani, evil eye awareness was part of her home life.
“There were certain things we put at the front door or on the front porch to ward off the evil eye,” Mani said.
There were things to be done on certain days.
“It was very much in my ear even though I was not so sure what it meant,” Mani said.
Her grandmother, who didn’t speak English, lived with her family while Mani was growing up. As one might expect with a younger generation, Mani wavered between rolling her eyes and respecting the old traditions but the constant love connection was food.
The cast said they are disappointed that there won’t be an official premiere or opening event although Blumhouse has a virtual one planned for Friday-Sunday: The Blumhouse Virtual Halloween Experience celebrates all four of its new thrillers: Nocturne, Black Box, Evil Eye and The Lie. Visit Eventbrite for free tickets and more information. Evil Eye drops on Amazon Prime Video on 13 October 2020 along with Nocturne.
After you’ve watched Evil Eye and gotten your evil eye talisman, these are the films Choudhury and Mani recommend for you Halloween viewing.
Sarita Choudhury:
The Shining (1980)
Get Out (2017)
Atlantics (2019)
Sunita Mani:
Hocus Pocus (1993)
Scream, especially the first one (1996).
AsAmNews has Asian America in its heart. We’re an all-volunteer effort of dedicated staff and interns. Check out our new Instagram account. Go to our Twitter feed and Facebook page for more content. Please consider interning, joining our staff, or submitting a story.
