The Hindu : Tamil Nadu / Chennai News : Acting is all that matters for this talented performer

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Thursday, Apr 19, 2007
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Tamil Nadu

Tamil Nadu - Chennai

Acting is all that matters for this talented performer

S.R. Ashok Kumar

"Cinema has always fascinated me since childhood. I wanted to make it big in the industry some day"

`Kovai' Sarala

`Kovai' Sarala is the only comedienne from this generation who has made it to the top. Having worked in all South Indian language films, she is still going strong. She explains why the comedy element in today's films fails more times than it clicks and why the art is rarely graced by women.

I deeply value commitment to my job. In fact, I find it difficult to sleep if there is pending work. To improve further as a person, I need to manage my anger better, cultivate tolerance, compassion and try to be calm whatever the situation.

The first film offer came my way when I was in the 9th standard. I acted with Vijayakumar and K.R. Vijaya for the film "Velli Ratham". The shooting was held at Vauhini Studios. My second film, "Mundhanai Mutichu", was an AVM production directed by K. Bhagyaraj.

Perhaps, a question-paper leak may have strengthened my resolve to stay in cinema. I was among the students who were chagrined when told that we would have to take the TNPSC examination a second time as there had been a question paper leak.

Cinema has always fascinated me since childhood. I wanted to make it big in the industry some day. So far, I have done more than 500 films in all South Indian languages, mostly Tamil.

In Telugu, I have acted in about 100 films, in addition to around six films each in Malayalam and Kannada.

Among my personal favourites are "Sathileelavathi", Viraluketha Veekam", "Varavu Ettana Selavu Pathana", "Karagattakaran" and "Viswanathan Ramamurthy".

My favourite comedy artists are `Venniraadai' Murthy, Manorama and Sachu.

Acting alongside Kamal Haasan in "Sathileelavathi" was an unforgettable experience. I was jittery on the sets before Kamal put me at ease. He is gifted artist with a wonderful sense of timing.

Today, they are remaking and recycling material of yesteryear. Look at films like "Nan Avanillai" and "Billa". I wonder for a moment who would play the lead role if "Thillana Mohanambal" were to be remade.

I cannot think of anyone else but Kamal Haasan in the role of Sivaji Ganesan. But for the role of Balaiyah? No one comes to mind ...

Women comedians are not really scarce, it is just that they do not get continuous work.

It was lack of work that prompted me to work in other language films. There are not good comedy writers now.

Love and marriage ... they are unknown realms. For the moment, acting is all that matters.

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