Suhasini Maniratnam, who has had a trailblazing acting journey across South languages, has made an indelible impression in Malayalam cinema too with some stellar performances, especially during the 1980s. The veteran actress-filmmaker, who is known for roles in KG George's Adaminte Vaariyellu and Mammootty-starrer Manivathoorile Aayiram Sivarathrikal, has now marked her presence in the Malayalam digital space too. Jai Mahendran, starring Saiju Kurup on SonyLIV, and Soul Stories, an anthology web series on ManoramaMax, gave two distinct characters to Suhasini.

In an exclusive interview with OTTplay, Suhasini Maniratnam talks about her experience of working with new-age filmmakers in web series, the challenging task of dubbing in Malayalam for the first time, and more. Apart from her performance, the iconic actress is also amused that people noticed her saree and blouse designs as well in Jai Mahendran.

Suhasini Maniratnam interview

You recently featured in two Malayalam web series - Jai Mahendran and Rani segment in Soul Stories. What made you say yes to both projects?

I had heard about Rahul Riji Nair and I know that he is an award-winning writer, and he is the creator of this series. He was writing the story and was also acting in it. I also checked with (film critic) Baradwaj Rangan. He said that ‘he is a new-age filmmaker, you should work with him’. Rahul said he is writing the script but Srikanth Mohan is directing it. We had a Zoom meeting when they narrated the story to me. I was very happy. They were nice, young people, but at the same time, they had clarity. Even though my character is not the main lead, (Jai Mahendran is based on Saiju Kurup’s character) but I knew that Shobha Kumari, who is a tahsildar, is also a very important character. And I enjoyed doing that.

About Rani in Soul Stories. The story was narrated to my manager Nithya and she told me it is such a touching story, you should listen to it. When I heard it, I was very happy. I had a phone chat with director Sanil Kalathil. When he narrated the story, I was surprised because that month I had actually registered for a class of Bharatanatyam at 61-62. I was surprised that a similar experience was happening for the character on screen.

In Jai Mahendran, you play a sincere government official, while Rani dares to break free from the conventional grandma duties to pursue her dance aspirations. How do you personally connect with the two characters, especially Rani?

I liked both characters. For Rani, I did not have to do any homework because it was so close to life. But for Shobha Kumari, I had to be a stern government official. I had to follow some protocols and things like that. But you know for an actor, it is all the same. You put in the same effort for both characters. It was such a joyful experience to play the character of Rani. Also, the fact that I spoke my own lines, it was a great experience. I love both characters. Of course, Jai Mahendran is a 6-episode series. Rani was just a single episode. But both very very enjoyable.

How has the audience reception been?

Both have garnered wonderful appreciation. I think personally for me, the performance in Rani is kind of celebrated by so many women. They have been calling me. But Jai Mahendran also I think since it is a longer six-episode series, people are very happy to see my presence in a Malayalam web series. Some of them liked the cotton sarees I wore and the blouse designs. I was surprised to see that people have noticed how I have dressed. Grateful for that.

Your experience of working with the new crop of directors Srikanth Mohan, Sanil Kalathil, and actors (Saiju Kurup) in Malayalam.

Working with Srikanth Mohan and Sanil was a wonderful experience. I did not have too many combination scenes with Saiju Kurup. All my scenes were with Rahul Riji Nair. We were discussing so many things and they made me comfortable. But Srikanth was a taskmaster. He wouldn’t say yes to any of my first takes. He always waited for the best to happen. It was challenging to get an ‘ok’ from him. But nevertheless, he is a young guy, and good to see that he had the clarity for the role and the performance. I really thought that the set was so authentic. The set was put up in a school in Kannur. Beautiful. I actually felt like I was a government employee those days, thanks to the art director and cinematographer and everybody. I tried telling the cinematographer Prasanth Raveendran that I am 63 years old, so please do not bring the camera close to my face. But I remember the cinematographer saying ‘How can we not bring the camera to your face? The camera loves people like you. So we have to bring it.’

When it comes to Rani with Sanil, we shot for 3-4 days. It was raining non-stop in Kochi and I don’t know how we managed to finish shooting that episode. But when you see it, you can’t even see that it was really pouring rain and the roads were all flooded. But then art is such... when you see the final product, you don’t even see what are the hardships that we had to go through. We used to wait for the rain to stop because we couldn’t even hear each other. And I remember the last scene when my son saw my dance clip on Instagram. He is supposed to appreciate me and I have a reaction shot because I never expected my son to appreciate my interest in dance. That reaction moved director Sanil. I haven’t experienced that kind of appreciation from my directors in quite some time. Because all my directors say ‘ok, the take was very good’ but here he became emotional. He had tears in his eyes. And for a minute, I did not even know what was happening because he was crying and clapping at the same time. He held my hand and he became very emotionally overwhelmed. So I remember that reaction from the director. I have not seen that in a long time.

In Soul Stories, you dubbed for the first time in Malayalam. How was the experience?

I dubbed only for Rani in Soul Stories and not for Jai Mahendran. For Jai Mahendran, I couldn’t dub as I was away. Also, I think they too did not want the risk of a Tamil accent coming for a government official character. Rani dubbing was the most challenging thing I have ever done in recent times. But director Sanil and associate director Vijith were very helpful. It was done at our theatre in Chennai. We took quite a bit of time, and I realized that my voice is good, my modulation was good, and my expressions are good. But the pronunciation was very difficult to get right. I have been speaking Malayalam for the past 30 years. Still, I realized there were so many corrections. I was telling all my actor-friends that it was very challenging. I have not faced this kind of challenge in a long time. But I’m happy to see the result. Because no one said the accent was not right, she should not have dubbed. Everybody asked why didn't she dub in the other films and projects also.

You have even dubbed for other actors such as Manisha Koirala in Uyire, Shobana in Thalapathy, and Tabu in Telugu also. How different is it when you dub for other actors since you are a popular actress yourself?

I started dubbing for other artists many years ago. Even when I was 18, I dubbed for Krishnakumari in Gramathu Athiyayam (1980) briefly. I studied at a film institute. So whenever students made those films with female characters from outside, they didn’t have time for dubbing. So it was my voice for all the actors throughout my three years in the film institute. So dubbing was not anything new for me. Hence, dubbing for Manisha Koirala in Uyire, Shobana in Thalapathy, or Tabu in Telugu was not difficult. I also dubbed Heera for Thiruda Thiruda. So it was a very nice experience. Of course, there is the director, trying to tell you exactly what he wants. It was not difficult at all. I would love to dub, in fact, I keep telling Nadiya Moidu that whenever she does a Tamil film, I should dub for her.

You have played strong women roles in Malayalam earlier, but then fewer such roles were written. Earlier this year, most of the Malayalam blockbusters did not have any strong women characters. An exception would be Urvashi’s Ullozhukku. How much has the industry changed in incorporating women’s tales in narratives?

I saw Urvashi’s Ullozhukku with Parvathy Thiruvothu. The film is very good. But it is one of the rare films only. Now, all the films are male-centric. And even female artists don’t want the whole burden of success or failure on their shoulders. For some reason, they don’t want to take the risk. They would be happier doing a hero-centric film because if the film flops, it won’t fall on them. But in the 1980s and 1990s, it was not like that. If you take me, Saritha, Revathy, Vijayashanthi, and Radhika, we did 60 of our films with heroes, while 40 were heroine-oriented. But today, if you take any heroine, who does 95 films, and only 5 films will be heroine-centric, and even that they try to avoid because the market also has changed a lot. But yes, interesting characters are being written for women. But I don’t think we have directors who are specialized in telling women-centric stories. Earlier, we had filmmakers such as Bharathiraja, Balu Mahendra, Bharathan, K K. Viswanath, and Kranthi Kumar who mainly focussed on such narratives. In Tamil, even in the 1950s and 1960s, we had KS Gopalakrishnan who did only films based on women even though there was MGR and Sivaji Ganesan. He did films with Savitri, KR Vijaya, and Vijayakumari, so now we don't have directors who write stories about women.

You acted in KG George’s movie Adaminte Vaariyellu. The movie, with an anthology structure, narrates three different stories of women. The role, played by you, Vasanthy, was the most hard-hitting segment (personally for me too). How was your experience of working with KG George and on the film?

KG George’s movie Adaminte Vaariyellu is easily one of my best films and a film that really had an impact on me. I just couldn’t breathe, I just couldn’t think when I was doing that character of Vasanthy. It was surreal for me. I was just out of college and I didn’t know married life was going to be this tedious for women. I was 20, and I probably played a 26-year-old woman in the film with a child. It was an anthology film with three women from three different sections of society. One was the boss, the other was a maid and I was the middle-class working woman at a government office with a child. Due to her struggles with an alcoholic husband, and the tyrant of a mother-in-law, she falls into depression and becomes mentally ill. It is one of the films that deeply affected me. Yes, it was ahead of its time. I am proud that I have been part of Adaminte Vaariyellu. Even today, I rate it as one of my best films.

You have directed one segment in Putham Pudhu Kaalai (Coffee please) and segments for Television earlier and one film Indira, which you had also co-written. Would you be stepping into direction in the near future?

I don't have any plans to direct a film as of now because my dad is 94 and my mother is 90. I spend all my time looking after them, caring for them, and also my husband. Right now, it is not the time for me to direct a film. The situation is not right for me to leave the house for more than 4-5 days. That's why I am doing these smaller acting roles now.

In an earlier for The Hindu interview, you said ‘The fact that I didn’t learn to read Hindi’ - was your regret. Is that why we only saw you in one Bollywood film - Waiting in 2015?

I was approached for Utsav many years ago. If I had done it, I would have worked with Girish Karnad and my Hindi career would have begun. For some reason, it did not happen. Then Gopurangal Saivathillai was made in Hindi as Naseeb Apna Apna. But I didn't want to do it as I had already done the Tamil and Telugu versions. When they approached me for Hindi and Kannada, I told them I couldn't do the same film in four languages. So, I think Hindi films are not for me. For some reason, I am very South Indian. So if there is a South Indian character, I will definitely do it

What are your upcoming projects - other languages and anything in Malayalam?

I am acting in a Tamil film after a long time called Charukesi, directed by Suresh Krishna. I play a middle-aged Brahmin woman with gray hair and all. I am looking forward to that. and there is one more project in Telugu where I will be playing a biography of a well-known philanthropist from the 19th century. Those are the two only projects I have as of now

You have done films across genres, and industries. Any one dream project that you would like to be part of?

I don’t dream anymore. There is nothing called a dream project because you have to accept life as it is. So when you accept life, then it becomes a dream. I don’t have any dream projects in any language.

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