Acting Smart
Two-time National Award winning actor, Shobhana, is an admirable lady. This actor of the south has always kept me in awe, not for acting skills but for the tantrums she throws time and again.One old issue of Savvy, which my wife picked up from a lending library close to home, served me much food for thought on this actor’s attitude.
When Savvy approached her just before she was to go up on stage to collect her second National Award for Revathy’s Mitr– My Friend, she demanded that none other than Amitabh Bachchan should write a piece on her… The veteran kindly did so, proving that he is a gentleman. But then why did Shobhana make such a demand? I keep wondering to myself – who is Shobhana when compared with Big B’s prowess. Not that Bachchan comes on top of the actors’ list when it comes to acting, but he is some one, who I believe, who stands tall in Bollywood. I decided to read the first person account by Shobhana on Savvy’s pages.
My nosiness made me look for something in the multi-page piece. Yes, here too I didn’t find what I was looking for. Rewind to my days as cub reporter. The high-profile Soorya Festival was on in Thiruvananthapuram, and I was assigned to cover the event. Shobhana was there to perform. Those were Onam days and the publication, wanted some trivia on Shobhana for the Onam Special issue. So I caught up with Shobhana after her lec-dem. Between her snacks, she agreed to talk to me.
The usual questions answered, I asked her to rate her co-stars. She waxided eloquently about the all stars like Mammootty, Mohanlal, Suresh Gopi and Jayaram, giving them all full points. I felt she has left out one guy who was responsible for her film debut in Malayalam. She didn’t utter a word about Balachandra Menon, who cast her in the hugely successful April 18. I just brushed it off my mind thinking she just forgot his name. Later on, after she won her first National Award for her portrayal of the dual personality of Ganga as Nagavalli, she went on record to thank almost all in the industry. But again Balachandra Menon’s name went missing.
I got this opportunity to interview Menon at his residence later on for the film page of Kaumudi. Menon, very articulate, went on and on with his experiences in the industry. In the course of the one-to-one, he mentioned that he felt very sad that Shobhana didn’t even bother to call him once after she won the National Award.Now comes this episode of demanding Big B to write about her. Where is Shobhana headed to? Is this arrogance, or is it that actors should behave so? Maybe, it’s just my nosiness dwelling upon such thoughts. Maybe… I’m being a bit critical of her. But my heart goes out to Balachandra Menon.
Two-time National Award winning actor, Shobhana, is an admirable lady. This actor of the south has always kept me in awe, not for acting skills but for the tantrums she throws time and again.One old issue of Savvy, which my wife picked up from a lending library close to home, served me much food for thought on this actor’s attitude.
When Savvy approached her just before she was to go up on stage to collect her second National Award for Revathy’s Mitr– My Friend, she demanded that none other than Amitabh Bachchan should write a piece on her… The veteran kindly did so, proving that he is a gentleman. But then why did Shobhana make such a demand? I keep wondering to myself – who is Shobhana when compared with Big B’s prowess. Not that Bachchan comes on top of the actors’ list when it comes to acting, but he is some one, who I believe, who stands tall in Bollywood. I decided to read the first person account by Shobhana on Savvy’s pages.
My nosiness made me look for something in the multi-page piece. Yes, here too I didn’t find what I was looking for. Rewind to my days as cub reporter. The high-profile Soorya Festival was on in Thiruvananthapuram, and I was assigned to cover the event. Shobhana was there to perform. Those were Onam days and the publication, wanted some trivia on Shobhana for the Onam Special issue. So I caught up with Shobhana after her lec-dem. Between her snacks, she agreed to talk to me.
The usual questions answered, I asked her to rate her co-stars. She waxided eloquently about the all stars like Mammootty, Mohanlal, Suresh Gopi and Jayaram, giving them all full points. I felt she has left out one guy who was responsible for her film debut in Malayalam. She didn’t utter a word about Balachandra Menon, who cast her in the hugely successful April 18. I just brushed it off my mind thinking she just forgot his name. Later on, after she won her first National Award for her portrayal of the dual personality of Ganga as Nagavalli, she went on record to thank almost all in the industry. But again Balachandra Menon’s name went missing.
I got this opportunity to interview Menon at his residence later on for the film page of Kaumudi. Menon, very articulate, went on and on with his experiences in the industry. In the course of the one-to-one, he mentioned that he felt very sad that Shobhana didn’t even bother to call him once after she won the National Award.Now comes this episode of demanding Big B to write about her. Where is Shobhana headed to? Is this arrogance, or is it that actors should behave so? Maybe, it’s just my nosiness dwelling upon such thoughts. Maybe… I’m being a bit critical of her. But my heart goes out to Balachandra Menon.
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