A still from Minsaara Kanna song from Padayappa.At the trailer and audio launch of Ponniyin Selvan, superstar Rajinikanth spoke about the novel of the same name with childlike enthusiasm. This despite the disclaimer from Kamal Haasan, who spoke ahead of Rajinikanth, that the two Indian film icons will keep their speeches short considering the length of the event. That didn’t stop Rajinikanth from praising Amarar Kalki (authour of Ponniyin Selvan), producer Subhashakran, and Mani Ratnam for realising the dream of many fans of the novel series. In the long speech, Rajinikanth also made an important revelation about Ramya Krishnan‘s Neelambari character from Padayappa (1999). He said that the role was based on Ponniyin Selvan character Nandini, which is being played by Aishwarya Rai Bachchan in Mani Ratnam’s adaptation.
“The story should not be Ponniyin Selvan. It is not about him, it should be Ponniyin Selvi – Nandini. It is her story. The story of the daughter of a great king, who loses her father and mother. Sees her lover get beheaded in front of her eyes… As revenge, she gets Periya Pazhuvettariayar in her control and tells him only if you become the king and I become the queen of the Chola empire, you will get to enter my bedroom and you will have a space in my bed. You can’t see such a powerful role anywhere. Neelambari from my film Padayappa was based on her character,” Rajinikanth said. Anyone who has read the novel will now realise the similarity between Nandini and Neelambari. Driven by vengeance, Nandini wants to get back at Aditya Karikala Cholan, her ex-lover.
It is not the first time Rajinikanth has spoken about Neelambari’s character in public. He heaped praise on Ramya Krishnan and the role at the audio launch of Pa.Ranjith’s Kaala. The impact of the role and the performance has been such that even Rajinikanth considers it as one of the two most powerful antagonists he has faced over time. At the audio launch, Rajinikanth said, “In my decades-long acting career, I found only two antagonists to be formidable and powerful. One is Antony from Baashaa and another is Neelambari from Padayappa.”
Padayappa came Ramya Krishnan’s way when she had been away from the Tamil film industry for about four years.
In her own words, Ramya was skeptical about taking up the project as she felt the role might jeopardize her future in Tamil cinema. On top of that many advised her not to take up the film as she might end up in the bad books of Rajinikanth fans. During a reality show, Ramya said, “I took up the film as I had no other option. I wanted to share at least a frame with Rajini sir. Many told me not to do the film given the nature of the role.” Talking about the aftermath of the film’s release, she said, “I hadn’t heard such kind of swear words till then. Fans hated me so much. I was not in the city when the film was released. I came once things settled down. Screens were damaged and slippers were thrown on the screen whenever I appeared.”
The hate was short-lived and that was also proof of the great quality of Ramya Krishnan’s performance. To date, Neelambari is the go-to reference for all the actresses in the Tamil film industry if they were to play an antagonist. Speaking at a Baahubali 2 pre-release event, Tamannaah Bhatia said, “Ramya mam’s Padayappa is the first reference I took to start my career.” Tamannaah is just one of the many actresses in the industry who was inspired by Ramya’s performance as Neelambari.
Any female antagonist roles in films after Padayappa is sure to have traces of Neelambari, be it Shriya Reddy’s performance from Thimiru or Varalaxmi’s role in Sandakozhi 2. Very few villains indeed remain in the collective memory of the Tamil audience for a long time, and Neelambari will be one of them. Ramya Krishnan played the role when she was 29, and it is talked about even as she turns 52. It is safe to say that, it will be spoken about on all her coming birthdays.