She first faced the camera as a three- month-old baby in Bharya. Many films with her as child artiste followed. Later, she rocked the screen as heroine in Tamil, Malayalam, Kannada, Telugu and even four Hindi films. She has a whopping 300 films to her credit. After marriage, she took a break. But now, the vivacious Tulasi is back on the Tamil screen. Her performances in Adhalal Kadhal Seiveer(AKS) and Pandiya Naadu (PN), have given her a new lease of life as a screen mom. In a chat with CE, Tulasi reveals more about her exciting line up of films in K Town.
“I got married at 28 to Kannada director Sivamani and happily settled for domestic bliss. But when my son Sai Tarun was around six years old, many mom roles started pouring in. I declined them all, but with increasing pressure, I signed on one Kannada film, Excuse Me, which became a big hit,” recalls Tulasi about her comeback. She played mom to Divya Spandana and set conditions that she would be back from work by 6 pm everyday. “But the industry took me as a good luck charm and soon I was doing three movies a year,” she says.
Soon, Kollywood beckoned and Tulasi was in Pillayar Theru Kadasi Veedu, Eesan, Mankatha, Sundarapandian, AKS and PN. “AKS changed my life. It brought me an identity as a screen mother to Manisha Yadav. People said I was just like their amma. I got several friend requests on Facebook. It’s all due to director Susindran,” says Tulasi. In Pandiya Naadu, she played Lakshmi Menon’s mom. She says, “Susindran wanted to bring out my comical side. Though the role was small, people quote my one-liners from the film.”
Tulasi is thrilled about playing a 60-year-old pannaiyar’s wife in Pannaiyarum Padminiyum, opposite Jayaprakash, “It’s a cute role and the chemistry between the pair is very differently brought out by director Arun.” Tulasi’s upcoming films include Vasan Visual Ventures untitled film with Vimal, directed by T Vel Suresh. KathuKutti, directed by E Ra Saravanan, starring Narain, is her other film. “Kids today don’t want any preaching. I want to play a friendly, jovial, bubbly and energetic screen mom, like I am in real life. I want to convey things with a smile, which is lacking so much these days,” she concludes.