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Endearing: Right from her memorable debut in ‘Koodevide,’ Suhasini has made her presence felt in Malayalam cinema.

But Suhasini did more than just smile in the 80’s and 90’s as she established herself as one of the most bankable leading ladies of Malayalam cinema during what is now considered as the golden period of Malayalam cinema. A series of outstanding performances, which also fetched her two State awards, endeared her to the audience the way very few non-Malayali actors did.

And Suhasini is back in Kerala, to do another Malayalam film, five years after acting in ‘Nammal.’ She is playing an important character in T.V. Chandran’s new film, ‘Vilapangalkappuram.’

“All it took for me to do this film was a phone call from T.V. Chandran. He is one of the finest directors in South India and I am happy to work with him and learn about good cinema from him,” says Suhasini, who was in Kozhikode recently to shoot for the film.

She has fond memories about Malayalam films, right from the days she worked for Padmarajan’s ‘Koodevide?’ “It is a favourite film of mine. And I had fantastic support from my co-stars Mammootty and Rahman,” she reminisces.

It truly was a memorable debut in Malayalam cinema, as she excelled in her role as the schoolteacher at a public school in Ooty who helps a difficult student, but at a personal cost. She was so impressive as Alice that she always got the meatiest of roles thereafter.

She went on to work with directors like Bharathan, K.G. George, K.S. Sethumadhavan, Sathyan Anthikad, Sibi Malayil, Priyadarshan and Fazil.

“Unfortunately I could only do one film with K.G. George (‘Adaminte Variyellu’) but that is the most serious and intense film I have ever done in my life. Bharathan was like Tamil directors K. Balachander and Bharathiraja; he got tremendous performances out of the artistes,” she says.

Suhasini had won the State awards for ‘Ezhuthappurangal’ (1987) and ‘Theerthadanam’ (2001).

“I was recognised because of the efforts of Sibi, who directed ‘Ezhuthappurangal,’ and M.T. Vasudevan Nair and Kannan, the writer and director, respectively, of ‘Theerthadanam.’”

She had won the National award for her role in Balachander’s ‘Sindhu Bhairavi’ (1985). “Everything was right about the film. The character of a mistress who would normally have got the least sympathy from the audience gained the most because of a clever script,” she says.

Her roles in ‘Ente Upasana,’ ‘Pranamam,’ ‘Manivathoorile Ayiram Sivarathrikal,’ ‘Oru Sayanthinte Swapnam’ and ‘Vanaparastham’ still remain fresh in the minds of many viewers. She says she was bowled over by Mohanlal’s performance in ‘Vanaprastham’ (he had won the National award for it).

“He was so good in ‘Vanaprastham’ that I did not feel bad about not getting a National award for my own performance! His acting was superior to mine or even that of his own in his other films. To me, it is his best performance.”

But it was with Mammootty that she acted more and they had formed a popular pair.

“Mammootty has always been my favourite actor. He has everything that a hero needs – the looks, the voice, a mobile face and a very natural acting style. He also has an intelligent mind that always works on his performance. He is a thinking actor, whereas Mohanlal is superbly spontaneous. They are easily the best two actors in India apart from my uncle Kamal Hasan, who heads the list because of his versatility.”

She is impressed by the current crop of young actors too.

“I like Meera Jasmine for her looks and she is talented but she has to watch her weight. I like Asin for her freshness and her dress sense. But my personal favourite is Nayanthara; she has a combination of good looks and a certain spark that makes her a star.”

Suhasini is disappointed with the state of today’s mainstream Malayalam cinema, though.

“The comedy films and certain pseudo cardboard hero films that are being made in Kerala make me very sad.”

She says she is enjoying her stint on television (she is currently hosting ‘Hasini Pesum Padam’ on Jaya TV, in which she reviews films). “Television is great. I enjoy only non-fiction where I can be myself, not a character; that you get to do in films anyway. That’s why I don’t like acting in serials,” she says.

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