At a time, when people look to retire even before they hit their forties, R Subbulakshmi comes across as being different. The actress, who will be turning 80 in the next couple of months, is now busy promoting her next Tamil film Ammani, in which she plays the lead.
“I don’t think of retirement. In fact, I don’t prefer people calling me Paaty(Grandma). When they do so, I feel like they are referring to someone else. I am someone who is young at heart and I am able to do what I do because of that,” declares the lady, who, sources say, has done a commendable job as the lead character in director Lakshmi Ramakrishnan’s film that is to hit screens soon.
“Ammani revolves around just two characters and I am one of them. In fact, I play the central character called Ammani, a rag picker. I play a woman who, after living prosperously, is now battling bad times. And although misfortune has befallen me, I don’t lose my sense of self-respect and go about my life with contentment,” explains Subbulakshmi.
“The other important character is that of Salamma, which is played by the director herself. This character has a huge family burden to bear and struggles a lot. However, despite her difficulties, she spares a room for me in her home. There is a bond that develops between the two. I treat her like my daughter and she considers me her mother,” she says.
Giving details of how she landed this role, the senior citizen says, “I played Trisha’s grandmother in the film in Vinnai Thaandi Varuvaaya (VTV). Lakshmi Ramakrishnan too was part of the project and became friends with me on the sets of this film. She had then said, ‘I too will be making a movie and I want to make you act in my movie as well.’ She remembered her promise and approached me for this project. I took this up and think I have delivered the performance that was expected of me.”
Interestingly, Subbulakshmi has acted in over 60 movies from 2002 when she first made her debut as an actor.
“ I was a music artiste who worked in the All India Radio. I began singing in 1951 and then went on to become a music artiste and then a music composer. I was among the first lady composers in Kerala and scored music in 1972. After retirement, I began teaching music privately. In 1996, I did an advertisement for the brand Horlicks, which was immensely popular. The director of the ad, who was to direct episodes, offered to cast me in two episodes and it was then that film offers began to come my way,” recalls Subbulakshmi.
Her first film was titled Nandanam that was made in 2002. “Prithviraj was the hero of the film. Interestingly, both of us made our debut with the same film,” she chuckles and discloses that she has already acted in a number of languages including Tamil, Telugu, Kannada, Hindi, Malayalam and even English.
“Yes, I have acted in English too. I did a film called ‘In the name of God,” says the actor’.