Suhasini Maniratnam talks about the diverse roles she performs.
Suhasini Maniratnam turns 56 today – but not a trace of it is seen in her gleaming smile. She is still the same charming, graceful and cheerful woman who ruled hearts in the 80s. While she won the Best Actress National Award for her performance in Sindhu Bhairavi, it is unfair to term her just as an actor – Suhasini was the first woman to graduate from the Madras Film Institute; there were five boys with her in her cinematography course. She has worked as a writer on many of her husband director Mani Ratnam’s movies. She has also directed the much-acclaimed film Indira featuring Anu Haasan and Aravind Swamy. The movie is so popular that even 22 years later, Suhasini is still asked why she hasn’t directed more movies. “Mani would actually love it if I direct more movies. It is his dream. My son, however, needed my attention. He requested me to look at him,” she said.
When asked how she balances so many roles, Suhasini candidly remarked “I don’t!”. “When I am at home, I am there and when I’m shooting or doing any other thing, I concentrate on that. I don’t believe in multitasking. I rather believe in doing one thing at a time”.
“You cannot be in just one place. You will feel stuck. I don’t get bored of life. I always find things that excite me,” added Suhasini.
The actor had recently said that women back in the 80s got meatier, diverse roles than the present-day heroines. Ask her to elucidate, she said, “See, 75% of the audience who come to the theaters are men. That’s what decides what kind of genre the film should be in. They are not women-centric at all. Rather, it is the women they fantasise about, or the women they see at home, or the woman they don’t want anything to do with. It is decided by men. That’s why I think women aren’t getting better roles”.
How does she think this can be remedied? “More number of women need to go to cinemas or the movies need to go where women are.” The obsession with fair skin is also a byproduct of our fascination with the West. “This is something again decided by men. They fantasise something that is not near home, they always look at the west and are influenced by the same,” said Suhasini.
But, why aren’t there more women working behind the screen though? “I don’t think women are being sidelined or ignored. If they are talented enough, they will get films. But they need to be more ambitious. Men don’t let anything come between them and their filmmaking; they get an ambiance that helps them work. Right now, women don’t get that. All that is changing though. Women are learning the tricks of the business. More than artistic flair, they are now understanding the economics of it.”
Talking about women artistes getting work after marriage, Suhasini says it’s a matter of ambition. “It is about being seen and being there in the business. It is a full-time profession.” She added, “Women definitely get work, maybe not the kind of work that we want. There is always work in any age group. In fact, I realised that I have more work in my 50s than in my 40s.” But doesn’t the crossover, where you go from being a hero/heroine to doing other kind of roles, happen much later for men? “You have to accept your age. Men aren’t accepting and the society is also not letting them to. The society is in a fantasy world where my uncle and my previous generation is still doing romantic roles but I am supposed to play a mother. However, he did not decide this, nor did I. It is the audience who have decided this.”
