Raring to go on and on
SHOBA NAIR
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More than 50 years in films and Sukumari has no plans to stop.
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AGELESS: Sukumari
Give her any role and Sukumari essays it to perfection. Proof of this fact is her current dual roles as the mod Priyamvadha and the elderly Mallakshi Amma in `Chandramathi Indumukhi.' "Whether it is a single scene or more, I act with pleasure... and there is no work without enjoyment," she reveals her mantra for perfect presentation.
With a career spanning more than half a century, Sukumari was introduced to the arts by her paternal aunt, the late Saraswathi Amma, mother of the Travancore sisters, Lalitha, Padmini and Ragini. "I wish she were alive to see where I have reached," she says, referring to her aunt.
At the age of 10, she joined her cousins in the troupe Dances Of India and gave several performances all over India before going to Sri Lanka, Singapore and Malaysia.
Sukumari's acting skills can be attributed to her stage performances. She joined Cho Ramaswamy's drama troupe, Viveka Fine Arts Club and several other troupes. "Those were days of either dance or drama," she reminisces.
Sukumari literally danced her way into films with her debut as a child artiste in the Tamil film, `Ori Iraivu,' and since then there has been no looking back.
Her roles were very different. If in one film she acts as a coy character artist, in the next she was the vamp and in yet another a snob.
In Malayalam films, she initially acted in comic roles opposite Adoor Bhasi, S.P. Pillai and Bahadur. Later she essayed memorable roles in films such as `Chattakatri,' `Poochackoru Mookkuthi,' `Karyam Nissaram,' `Boeing Boeing,' `Vandanam' to recent films such as `Pandipada' and the yet to be released `Chandu Pottu.'
She is at ease when she acts with the children and even grandchildren of her co-stars of yesteryear.
Sukumari has won many accolades for her work in Malayalam and Tamil films, from the Kerala State Award for `Chattakkari' in 1974 to the recent Sivaji Award, and of course the Padmasree. Yet, more than all the awards and the accolades, what she treasures most is praise from her cousin Padmini.
"The warmth and the rapport on the sets of serials is touching," says Sukumari, and it is this rapport that keeps her moving from one role to the other with ease.
And this 65-year-old hates the word retirement and believes that work is the breath of life.
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Entertainment
Bangalore
Chennai and Tamil Nadu
Delhi
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Thiruvananthapuram
