Who can forget director Ram’s Chellamma in Thanga Meengal (2013)? The film went on to win the National Award for Best Tamil Film that year, and the child artiste, Sadhana Venkatesh, who played the role of Chellamma, won the Best Child Artist award. Ram has cast her in his upcoming film, Peranbu, starring Mammootty, Anjali and Samuthirakani.
“I play an unusual role in Peranbu,and this time around, my acting experience was totally different,” says 15-year-old Sadhana, who was in Chennai recently for her Bharatanatyam arangetram. Sadhana, whose family had relocated to Dubai after the shooting of Thanga Meengal, started concentrating on dance. She took time off to shoot for Peranbu, which was shot almost a year ago, and then started preparing for her arangetram. “Dance is my first love. In fact, Ram uncle met me when I was in a dance class. My parents refused, but once he started narrating the story of Thanga Meengal, we realised that it was a completely child-oriented film,” says Sadhana.
Reminiscing about the shooting days of Thanga Meengal, Sadhana says she could not cry in front of the camera, and the entire period was unforgettable. “After glycerine was applied to my eyes, Ram uncle would come towards me, scold me and ask ‘Loose aah nee?’. Only much later did I realise that he did that in order to make me cry naturally.”
“In Peranbu, I play Mammootty’s daughter. I could connect with him instantly, and one can learn a lot from him,” she says, adding that the film is already getting good reviews in the international film festivals where it is being screened. “Working with Ram uncle was difficult then. And it was equally difficult this time around also. The role required a lot of research and hard work to perform.”
This Class X student of GEMS Our Own Indian School, Dubai, is the winner of the Sheikh Hamdan Award for Excellence. Sadhana was trained in classical dance by her mother Lakshmi Venkatesh, who runs a dance school, Sri Paadham Academy of Dance in Dubai. Sadhana is also trained in Carnatic vocal and playing the veena.
Did she enjoy all the attention she got after she won the National Award? “To be honest, the after effects of acting in the film made me a bit uncomfortable. I don’t like the attention at all, but I do like to act,” she chuckles.
Sadhana is fascinated by action films and has always wanted to act in Karate Kid, if it is ever made in Tamil.