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Sudha Chandran acted in the female version of Amar Akbar Anthony, met her husband on the film set
Sudha Chandran spoke at length about her husband, whom she met on the set of Seeta Salma Suzy, starring herself, Archana Puran Singh, Moon Moon Sen, Jeet Upendra, Shekhar Suman, and S.D. Banerjee.
Sudha Chandran recalled her love story with her husband, Ravi Dang.
There are few actors who have sustained a career across industries and mediums as successfully as Sudha Chandran. From delivering a landmark performance in the seminal film Mayuri to becoming a formidable presence on Indian television, thanks to her collaborations with Ekta Kapoor, Chandran has continually reinvented herself. And now, in a recent conversation with Hauterrfly, the veteran actor revealed an intriguing chapter from her early career, a film that never saw the light of day. The project was titled Seeta Salma Suzy, conceived as a female-led adaptation of Manmohan Desai’s Amar Akbar Anthony.
Seeta Salma Suzy, the female version of Amar Akbar Anthony
A poster of Sudha Chandran, Archana Puran Singh and Moon Moon Sen-starrer Seeta Salma Suzy.
“I was working on a film, it was the female version of Amar Akbar Anthony, titled Seeta Salma Suzy. The film was never released, but it starred me, Archana Puran Singh, and Moon Moon Sen. It also featured Jeet Upendra, Shekhar Suman, and S.D. Banerjee, he was from Bengal. At the time, we genuinely believed we were recreating Amar Akbar Anthony. We were working very sincerely. My hero was Jeet Upendra, and the director was a Muslim gentleman, called Qamar Narvi saab,” Sudha Chandran recalled.
Sudha further revealed that was during the making of this unreleased film that she met her husband, Ravi Dang, who was serving as an associate director on the project. “In that film, my husband was the associate director. I used to feel that all frustrated actors ended up becoming assistant directors, and that desire to act always stayed inside them. He was six feet tall and good-looking. I would often think he must have come to become an actor but couldn’t succeed, so now he was roaming around carrying files.”
Their first interactions, Sudha Chandran admitted, were far from warm. “I used to look at him and say ‘Good morning,’ but he never responded. I thought he was very arrogant for an associate director. One day I asked him, ‘What’s your problem? Are you coming here after fighting with your girlfriend?’ He said, ‘I didn’t quite understand what you mean.’ So I asked him why he wasn’t responding to my good morning wishes. He said, ‘Ma’am, I am not being paid to say good morning. I am being paid to work, and I am working for my producer.’” That response left a lasting impression. “On hearing that, I realized, this man has substance.”
Mother wasn’t convinced for marriage
What followed was a gradual understanding, not just between the two of them, but between their families as well. As they grew closer, they began to consider marriage. Convincing her parents, however, was not simple. “My mother said she didn’t want anyone from the industry. Then I spoke to my father and told him that if I was getting married, I wanted to marry this man. He told me, ‘Sudha, I don’t know Ravi, but I know you. My daughter can never go wrong. If you have chosen him, then there must certainly be something in him.’”
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Marriage, Sudha Chandran said, turned out to be a source of strength. She described her husband’s support as crucial to the bold choices she made in her career, including her decision to take on the television show Kaahin Kissii Roz. “My husband told me, ‘Sudha, stop doing so many serials and do one solid show.’ I had just gotten married when I decided to begin Kaahin Kissii Roz. People warned me that my marriage would break because I would be working 24/7. But my husband said, ‘Forget what the world says. What do you want to do?’ He told me that the opportunity I had struggled for was at my doorstep. He was exactly like my father, he supported me throughout, and he continues to do so even today.”
Through the years, his reassurance, she says has remained constant. “He always tells me, ‘Why do you think so much? Good things are happening to you now, and good things will continue to happen in the future.’”
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