BENGALURU: She might be known as Sandalwood beauty Sree Leela’s mother now, but Dr Swarnalatha has always been a rockstar in her field of work. One of the most sought-after gynaecologists and fertility specialists in the city, she has helped many Kannada filmstars like Radhika Pandit and Yash welcome their bundles of joy. Swarnalatha is currently working on a book about the most common gynaecological issues. “The book will be like a handbook for women of all ages. It will have details about the changes a woman’s body goes through, right from puberty to menopause,” says the 51-year-old doctor who has been specialising in artificial reproductive methodology for 13 years.
With Sandalwood actors having consulted her for a long time, she says the biggest problem that women in the industry face is stress and erratic lifestyles, which affect their bodies directly. “Stress, constant weight gain or weight loss, etc are part of the job. But it has huge repercussions on your body which may lead to various gynaecological issues, including infertility,” she points out. Working with filmstars might sound like a fun job but she says it also comes with its own set of risks and responsibilities.
“They all come to me with trust. Although I keep all my patients’ cases confidential, stars also bring in a lot of curiosity among people. So I am always intimately involved with a case so that everything comes under my direct supervision,” she explains, adding, “Since their appearance is a critical part of their job, they are also constantly worried about the physical changes that their body goes through, so for any step that we take, we have to keep that into consideration too.”
Swarnalatha is also a hands-on mother, a fact that she says her daughter’s colleagues in the film fraternity can vouch for. “I know her routine by heart. I constantly check with the production team to know if she has had food, etc. I am sure she gets irked by that but later she comes around and says I was right. So that kind of makes up for everything,” says Swarnalatha, revealing that her only concern about her daughter joining the showbiz bandwagon was that Leela should finish her education. “She is currently in the final year of MBBS. Even both my older sons have finished their higher studies, so education is very important in the family,” says Swarnalatha.
Medicine may be her forte but she also nurtures a love for performing on stage, being a trained Bharatnatyam dancer and having performed on stage multiple times. “Even Leela says I should have been the first one in the family to enter the movie industry. I have never planned my life, so you might see me playing the role of a mother in future,” she laughs.