Wednesday, January 19, 2022

The Silent army in a Woman.


   

   From the days of Padmini,Savithri and Sowcar Janaki,Tamil cinema has never been wanting in the exposition of feminine grace and power.Most talented actresses have occupied the centre stage since then.Some were subdued and fascinating and some were dauntless darlings of the big screen.Joys and tears are inescapable moments in each one's life and these women of Tamil cinema never failed to robustly display the gusto of joy and sorrow,besides reflecting the femine courage in fighting against the vulnerable plight of women.

   The fighting element was more in the case of actresses like P.Bhanumathi,Sowcar Janaki and Jeyalalitha.Of these,Sowcar Janaki was sobre and sorrowful but equally feministic.Tamil cinema had another impressive perfomer called Sujatha,who is no more today.The only difference between Sowcar Janaki and Sujatha was that the former was equally competent in donning both tragic and comic roles.

   In fact,Sowcar Janaki's flair for comedy was extraordinary in films like Edhir Neechal, Bhama Vijayam and Thillu Mullu.Whereas,Sujatha could hardly evince interest in comedies and it looked as though,she was specially made for symbolising the docile feminine grace or the undaunting feminist face.She excelled in these portfolios of acting and lives in our memory,as an actor of sobriety abd sublimity.

  Sujatha who was introduced as a child artiste in Malayalam cinema in 1965,began to hold a significant space in Malayalam films from 1970 onwards.It was the veteran film maker K.Balachander who inttroduced her in a lead role in Aval Oru Thodarkadhai {1974},one of his most popular and critically reviewed films.

  Sujatha's gripping role play in Aval Oru Thodarkadhai made her entry as a Tamil star, capable of portraying characters,vitally linked to the theme and story line of many memorable Tamil films.She began to silently lead the race,as a dynamic heroine of famous films like,Avarkal,Vaazhndhu Kaattukirein,Mayangukiraal Oru Madhu  Aayirathil Ortuhi,Oru Oodhaappu Kan Simittukiradhu, Annakkili, Poonthalir,Unnai Naan Sandhithein,Kadal Meengal and so on,with heroes like Muthuraman, Srikanth Sivakumar,Rajinikanth and Kamalahasan.

  Soon she became the most suitable pair and co actress of Sivaji Ganesan in films like Deepam, Andhamaan Kaadhali,Theerpu,Needhipadhi,Viswaroopam,Vaa Kanna Vaa, Paritchaikku  Neramaachu,Sandhippu,Nermai,Mannukkul Vairom and Thaaiku Oru Thaalaattu.In Deepam she did the role of a woman gulping and spitting bitterness against Sivaji Ganesan,until she could understand his really noble character.

  As the woman loved by him and one married to his younger brother in Deeepam, Sujatha ran into the predicament of a suspected wife and performed her role effecively, grasping its nuances and niceties.Her role with Sivaji Ganesan in Andhamaan Kaadhali, was beautifully on the romantic side.All the other films showed her in elderly roles,either as the wife of Sivaji Ganesan or as an important character,related to the core of the main plot.

  Initially paired with Kamalahasan and Rajinikanth,later on Sujatha played as the mother of the two heroes.Her captivating mother roles in Rajinikanth films were, Maaveeran, Anbukku Naan Adimai,Kodi Parakkudhu,Uzhaippaali and Baba. She was the wife and mother of Kamalahasan in the film Mangamma Sabadham in which Kamal played dual roles as father and son.Sujatha was also the lovely mother of Arjun {Karna& Vaadhiyaar}Prabu {Sandhippu} Ajith{Attakaasam} Vikram {Arul} Sathyaraj {Sivasakthi}  and Vijayakanth{Dharmam Vellum}.

  Some of the roles of Sujatha that will always be celebrated in audience memory are from the films Aval Oru Thodar Kadhai,Avarkal,Vaazhndhu Kaattukirein, Annakkili, Andhamaan Kaaadhali,Vidhi,Amaidhi Padai and her most endearing mother role in the film Arul.In Vidhi and Amaidhi Padai,she exhibited her suppressed anger and courage, with absolute perception of the character intricacies and with a bold reflection of the right values of life.

  There was an extraordinary charm and grace in Sujatha's mode of voice delivery that could poignantly pierce the hearts of the viewers with a depth of the grandeur of grief and governance of the soul.It was a kind of shivering voice,covering a tall tower of  courage,well built on a sterling base of moral uprightness,blended in feminine glory. She always acted with enormous dedication to the character assigned to her and it was this dedication that made her excel in displaying grief, grace,substance and strength through her depiction of characters.

  Most significantly,the title of 'Amaithi Padai' would suggestively turn into an interpretation of the silent army of courage in her,against the nauseatingly dangerous motives of her husband, exuberantly played by Satyaraj. Sujatha was really a replica of the silent army in a woman.It is this silent fighting spirit that put her in limelight, in films like Vaazhndhu Kaattukirein, Vidhi,Mangamma Sabadham and Amaidhi Padai.Sujatha passed away ten years ago.But her profile has passed into the layers of our memory, surmounting the passage of time. 

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