There are only two ways her audiences react to Umashree: either be totally fond of her or abhor her completely. If her loud and brazen ways on screen woos many, her bawdiness puts many off. Whatever, her candour is apparent: “Of course, it’s my acting under the Girish Kasaravalli (whose Gulabi Talkies fetched her the 2007 national award for the best actress) that helped me get the award.”
Umashree has successfully covered the gamut of Kannada theatre, from rural to professional to amateur, in 32 years. She is popular in north Karnataka even as she continues her involvement with Rangasampada, the Bangalore-based amateur theatre troupe. Umashree has no regrets about portraying the sexy siren with double entrendres as the sum total of her dialogues. She metamorphosed into a ‘character artiste’ with the comedy film, Golmal Radahkrishna. Her journey from being a comedian to doing supporting roles and to heroine has been “fulfilling with much to look forward to in terms of exploring my own ability to emote, bringing to it all my life experiences”
Umashree's tryst with cinema began with a funny quirk. After casting her in Amritagalige in 1982, Puttanna Kanagal had said that Umashree was unfit for cinema. But the role clicked. Two years later, the Kashinath film Anubhava even won her an award. What followed was a trend — of casting her in playing-to-the-gallery roles. Looking back, she wonders: “With this kind of an entry, how could I get respectable roles, leave alone aspire to be a heroine?”
Worse, she and her two children were abandoned by her husband. But the actress fought it all with grit. “My sense of self worth never diminished despite the cheap roles I played. The greatest wealth of an artiste is the respect he earns from society. I’ve garnered it.”
Yet, in all these years, Umashree has never been confined to the periphery of Kannada cinema. Her presence has been central to its success, or has received encomiums for her role.
Her successful pairing with top comedians such as N S Rao, Mukhyamantri Chandru, Doddanna and Karibasavaiah made her the star attraction. If the transition from a bimbette to a comedy artiste was smooth, so was her easy essaying of character roles with a depth of meaning. While both genres brought her six state awards besides many private awards, Gulabi Talkies is a reflection of “my own life story — in a way”.
Her next assignment is, again, a Kasaravalli film. Titled Kanasemba Kudureyanneri, it’s based on a short story, Sawaari, of Amresh Nagudoni. Just as in Gulabi Talkies, the protagonists — a gravedigger and his wife (Umashree) — belong to the marginalised people. Kasaravalli says she was the perfect suit. “It is very easy working with her,” says the filmmaker.
Political aspirations have intertwined her social work that focuses on women’s welfare in rural areas. After her stint as an MLC, Umashree unsuccessfully contested the recent Assembly elections from the Terdal constituency in Bagalkot district. As the head of the OBC cell of the Pradesh Congress Committee, her focus is on the downtrodden. Besides the Karnataka state award, the film has won her the Osians’ Cinefan Film Festival’s Best Actress Award. It has been nominated for the India International Film Festival for the Indian Panorama category.
jyothi.r.ram@gmail.com
