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This is an archive article published on November 9, 2010
Matinee Idol
If the people who have chosen the films know cinema well,then a festival is an instant success, says Suhasini Mani Ratnam,one of the five-member women jury of the just concluded 12th Mumbai Film Festival.
Written by PriyankaPereira
November 9, 2010 11:16 PM IST
4 min read
4 min read
If the people who have chosen the films know cinema well,then a festival is an instant success, says Suhasini Mani Ratnam,one of the five-member women jury of the just concluded 12th Mumbai Film Festival. I would say it is the second best film festival in India,after the one held in Thiruvananthapuram, says the first-timer at the Mumbai festival. Ratnam being a film student was acquainted with such festivals very early in life. Earlier,there was just IFFI,which took place in Delhi.
Ratnam often visits Mumbai for ad shoots,but attending the festival has been an enriching experience. At the festival,she got an opportunity to mingle with filmmakers such as Jane Campion and Samira Makmalbaf as well as a chance to judge first-time directors. If you are making a film for the first time,you have all the problems and fears. Yet,you have the freedom that you will never get in life. In Chennai,I do film reviews for a local channel. Every second movie I review is by a debutant. There is so much passion and freshness in those films; that makes them special, she says.
Looking ravishing in a pink sari and minimum make-up,the actress could give the younger lot a run for their money. This is what scares me the most, says the 49-year-old. The business of looking good is very difficult. This has often made me consider retirement from films. She,however,candidly confesses that awards are still a lure. I got a Best Actress award from the Kerala government when I was 24,and I got another one when I was 42. I was more thrilled when I got it for the second time.
Retirement from the silver screen seems to be a far cry for the actress,who has been a revered face in South Indian films for the last three decades. She has just completed a Kannada film called Innondu Maduve and is currently working in one film each in Tamil and Telugu. This year,she was also seen in Kannada films Eradane Maduve and School Master,Telugu films Leader and Varudu,Tamil films Seedan and Thillalangadi. Despite being so prolific,she hasnt tried her hand at Bollywood because Hindi is something she is yet to learn. May be someday I will.
Unlike her Bollywood counterparts,Ratnam continues to bag meaty roles. Thats because I play my age. The first thing a 50-year-old needs to do is stop competing with a 20-year-old. If a 56-year-old Rekha looks 30,she is not being true to herself, she explains. Whenever a director comes up to me with an inconsequential scene,I ask him why do I need to be here. Would a Mammootty or a Cheeranjeevi do it? We need to put our foot down, she insists.
Apart from her acting career,Ratnam is busy with her NGO,Naam,set up to empower single women. She is also the crisis manager of Madras Talkies,a production house run by her husband Mani Ratnam. I deal with artiste dates,problems with Film Chamber of Commerce and co-write scripts with my husband, she states. After her sole directorial venture,Indira,Ratnam hasnt donned the directors mantle again. I was busy with my family. Two of Manis brothers had tragic deaths. My father was very unwell and I had my son to look after. One director in the family is more than enough.
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