When an actor of Suhasini Maniratnam’s stature says that she barely gets to play roles that she can relate to, you can only wonder how high she sets her personal limit. Suhasini admits that her 33 years in the industry and a range of roles in all the four South Indian languages haven’t given her a role that is close to reality. Until now.
She lets on that she can identify with her role in her next film, a biopic, in which she plays mathematician Srinivasa Ramanujan’s mother, Komalathammal. Ramanujan directed by National Award Winning director Gnana Rajasekaran, stars Abhinay, the grandson of legendary actor Gemini Ganesan and Malayalam actor Bhama in lead roles.
Currently shooting for portions of the film in Chennai, Suhasini says that being an accidental actor, she never quite got a role that she could quickly associate with.“It is the truth: we actors never get to play roles that give us a glimpse of our own self. You can ask Amitabh Bachchan or Kamal Haasan, they will all tell you the same thing. However, playing Ramanujan’s mother, I see a bit of everyone I know,” she says.
She adds that a part of the character is reminiscent of many mothers, who have been the biggest driving force for the success of their sons.
“I see a lot of Susheela aunty (Susheela Viswanathan, the mother of Viswanathan Anand) and Maggie Amritaj (mother of Anand, Ashok and Vijay Amritraj). It is fascinating as a character. Komalathammal was a woman who never lived in the present; she had foresight. Her traits are what you would see in the women who made geniuses. Ramanujan couldn’t nurture another genius by himself, like his mother did,” she states.
Being a period flick, there was a bit of spadework that the actor had to do. “I had to dig out saris that were almost a century old. I deliberately chose the oldest ones from all that I could lay my hands on,” she says with a laugh.
Visibly excited about the role, Suhasini, however, adds that it is hard for senior artistes to bag roles with substance. “There are two things — the new breed of directors wonder why they have to pay a middle-aged established artiste more than a new actor and the other category of filmmakers are scared of approaching an artiste like me. But, there are exceptions like Selvaraghavan, who says that he sees potential in a script that has roles for me, Bhanupriya and Navya,” she says.
After wielding the megaphone for the film Indira, she chose to stay away from filmmaking and she says that it is hard for a woman filmmaker to be in the business due to familial commitments.
“It is tough for a woman director. To manage domestic duties and make films simultaneously, is not a natural choice. She could possibly pursue household responsibilities with other vocations, but not make films. No one encourages a woman to make films and balance personal life. It is just not viable,” she says.
Having been vocal about the need for more women producers in the film industry, Suhasini says that things have changed in Bollywood. “In Bollywood, it is Ekta Kapoor and her likes dominating the field. Managing finance is innate in a woman. I hope to see change here, too. People like Balachander’s daughter, Pushpa have ventured into producing. It is a good sign,” she says.