The Hindu : Tamil Nadu News : She hopes to make her mark in a male-dominated field

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Tamil Nadu

Tamil Nadu

She hopes to make her mark in a male-dominated field

“I don’t like to do sob stories. So,
I choose to do humorous roles that suit my character”

— Photo: K.V. Srinivasan

Harathi.

Until a few years ago, she was a child artist donning the roles of daughter or kid sister of actors. While most child artists of her age group have grown up aspiring to become heroines, Harathi took a different path — to regale the audience with her sense of humour. She took a break from a film shoot in Valasaravakkam to share her passion for acting and her quest for novelty in her ventures in an interview with K. Lakshmi.

For a bubbly child artist who has acted in more than 60 films in south Indian languages and Hindi, re-entry into films is not uncommon. But Harathi’s decision to come back as a comedy artist made her stand out among the yesteryears child artists. “I started off my acting career at the age of three in ‘Vanna Kanavugal.’ I then went on to work with most of the leading actors and directors.”

Even as she was busy acting, she was earnest in pursuing her education. “My parents were strict about academics. They would permit me to act only if I scored good marks. I later realised the importance of their advice and completed MBA recently,” she said.

Asked about her choice to take up comedy, she quipped: “I don’t like dieting and I know Tamil. Aren’t these disadvantages to become lead actor?” Her comeback into acting was through a Tamil serial directed by K. Bhagyaraj. “I played a serious and poignant role in it. May be my acting was found funny and I got to act in humorous script for a television programme, ‘Super 10 movies.’”

She decided to carry off as comedy artist in films as well from Tamil film ‘Arul’. “I don’t like to do sob stories. So, I choose to do humorous roles that suit my character.”

Though the film industry has several male comedy artists, the tinsel town has had only a handful of women who left an indelible mark in the field. “I want to bridge the gap in comedy field. I wish to be part of a full-length comedy track. It is for the directors and script writers to have the confidence in women artists to don such roles.”

In her brief stint as comedy artist, she has acted with leading comedians and actors. “I cherish the ‘Kalaimamani’ award as I am probably the youngest actor in Tamil industry to have bagged it,” she said.

She has also proved her talent as a dancer in the ongoing dance show in Kalaignar TV. “I have choreographed my dance performances in college. But, it was Kala Akka (dance director Kala) who discovered my talent.”

She is also involved in helping transgendered people to earn their living by providing vocational training such as tailoring and beautician courses through her ‘Sasta Trust’. She aims to set up an old age home for destitute elderly.

Direction is another field that interests her. She has directed 40 episodes of ‘Maya’, a comic mime show. “Besides a comedy artist, I want to be remembered as famous director,” she said.

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