The Hindu : Tamil Nadu / Chennai News : Waiting for good roles: Archana

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Friday, May 04, 2007
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Tamil Nadu

Tamil Nadu - Chennai

Waiting for good roles: Archana

S.R. Ashok Kumar

"I am ready to wait for a role of substance, however rare it may be"

Chennai: Archana has proved herself to be an artiste of high calibre. She attaches more significance to quality of work than quantity. Her recent release was "Parattai Engira Azhagusundaram" in which she worked alongside Dhanush and Meera Jasmine. Archana talks about her life and outlines her set of criteria for accepting films. I am a contented person, which is perhaps why I have not done many films unlike some other stars. My first day at work, working with a legend like Balu Mahendra, was unforgettable. I am very conscious of the quality of the work I associate myself with. I must have done nearly 30 films in all the South Indian languages, as well as in Hindi and Oriya. I will give a high rating only for three films — "Dasi" and "Veedu" that fetched me the best female actor award at the national level, and "Nireekshana" (a Telugu remake of the Malayalam film, "Yathra").

After a lay-off for nearly 14 years from the industry, I got a call to watch the Kannada film "Jogi." The film stars popular heroines Arundhathi Shankar Nag in the Kannada version and Sharada in the Telugu version. Producer Keyar convinced me to do the role. I felt that the mother's role in "Parattai Engira Azhagusundaram" was a lifetime chance.

In fact, there was a remark that I looked too young for the mother's role. But one must remember that even when Nargis did "Mother India" she was not too old.

Somebody in the industry remarked that 14 years of `vanavasam' would be followed by `pattabishegam'. I will continue to act in films if I come across a good role.

Good roles are not easy to come by. I am not in a hurry to grab all that comes my way, but waiting for a role of substance, however rare that may be.

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