Journey of Evergreen Acts by Geetha

3 October 2013
Thiruvananthapuram

On the set of her first Malayalam film, actor Geetha would often wonder why she was being asked to always wear a plain old Kerala sari. It was quite different from the colourful costumes she was used to in Tamil, Kannada and Telugu movies. One day she decided to voice her concerns to Hariharan, director of the movie. “Hariharan just smiled and told me that I would understand when I saw the film,” recalls Geetha.

The film was Panchagni (1986), which went on to become one of Malayalam cinema’s classics. “While I was acting in it, little did I imagine that Panchagni would change my life. When Hariharan came to my home in Chennai, I had told him that I would not be able to do the film straightaway as I had other commitments. But he was willing to wait,” says Geetha, in an interview with Friday Review, on the sidelines of shooting for Salala Mobiles in Kozhikode.

Geetha did become a star in Malayalam cinema; her skilled and subtle portrayal of all the trauma and inner strength of the film’s protagonist Indira, garnered applause from all quarters. Indira remains one of Malayalam cinema’s landmark heroines. “Not many actresses would get such a dream debut,” she muses.

Films such as Sukhamo Devi, Kshamichu Ennoru Vaakku, Aavanazhi and Geetham all released in quick succession the same year, and pushed her into the frontline of Malayalam heroines.

Geetha proved that she was as much at ease as the sex worker in Aavanazhi as she was as the helpless spinster in Aadharam. She could move the viewer as the unfortunate mother Malini in Vaishali. She was in fine form in films such as Lal Salaam and Oru Vadakkan Veeragatha, for which she won the State award for the second best actress in 1989. She looked every inch as the Malayali homemaker in Valsalyam.

Geetha has done a lot of good work in Tamil, Kannada and Telugu too. “I have enjoyed working in Tamil films such as Thalapathi, Azhakan and Pudhu Pudhu Arthangal,” she says.

Although she has been based in the United States since 1997, following her marriage, she still finds time to act. “I come to India very often and recently shot for Zachariyayude Garbhinikal, in which I have an interesting role, and North 24 Kaatham. I play the role of Dulquer Salmaan’s mother in Salala Mobiles; I was paired with his father, Mammootty, in several films,” says Geetha, whose journey in tinsel town began in 1978 with the Tamil film Bhairavi.

Source– http://www.thehindu.com

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