SUBHALEKHA SUDHAKAR

Film’s loss TV’s gain

For Subhalekha Sudhakar, it is a smooth transition from films to television. In fact, in his case, it can be said that cinema’s loss is television’s gain. The tall, lanky actor with a baritone voice had a fairly successful movie career, till 1991. “I do not know what went wrong after that, but I wasn’t getting any offers. But TV came to my rescue and I have been getting meaningful roles on the small screen,” says Sudhakar.

A discovery of veteran director K. Vishwanath, who introduced him in Subhalekha (the film’s name stuck to him like a surname, ever since), Sudhakar has acted in more than sixty films to date. Apart from his debut movie, he was appreciated in films such as Swati, Sitara, Anveshana, Siva, Ladies Tailor, Gautami, Rendu Jella Seetha and Preminchi Pelladu, to name a few.

Though at ease in any kind of role, Sudhakar was mostly restricted to playing comedy roles on screen. “That is due to my debut movie, where I played a comedian and the subsequent movie Rendu Jella Seetha which also portrayed me in a lighter vein. Both proved big hits and the tag stuck to me. Of course in Anveshana, I played a negative character. But one thing I am unable to figure out is whenever a comedy episode is shot for any of these private channels during festive occasions, my name does not figure in it. This surprises me.”

Sudhakar’s foray into the small screen came much earlier, while he was still busy as a movie actor. “I knew this was the medium of the future. So in 1986, when an opportunity came my way, I lapped it up. Since then I occasionally did some single episodes for Hyderabad Doordarshan. That was between my film assignments. But from 1991, the concentration has been more on television. I find this medium more challenging and it offers one the scope to improve with each episode telecast.”

Sudhakar’s role as a man who rises from rags to riches and then forgets those who helped him in his ascent, in the telefilm Manishi (director Mani Shankar), has won him kudos. The telefilm when dubbed into Tamil won him a couple of assignments in Tamil serials, too. “In fact, I owe my re-entry on the tube in 1991, to K. Balachander. He gave me a very complex character - that of a illterate man who is at loggerheads with his stepbrother in the popular Tamil series, Marma Desam. (The Telugu dubbed version is on air now on Gemini TV). My character is called Agni. This serial opened new vistas for me and then I did a couple of teleserials in Tamil too, one of which Kanavugal Ilavasam will be telecast soon.”

Sudhakar has starred in some popular Telugu serials, Pelli Pandiri, Ananda Rao Pelli and the recent Ananda Lahari. “Most of these serials, including my Tamil ones, showed me as a middle class youth. But in Radhika’s Idi Katha Kaadu I play the role of a zamindar. It is a great feeling acting opposite such a versatile actress as Radhika. And for me the role offers a challenge as it has shades of negativism.

This zamindar is a drunkard and has all the vices. At one stage, he is even jailed on charge of committing a murder. And, all along, Radhika, who plays his wife tolerates all this hoping that one day he will be a changed man. And the story takes curious turns. This is a 300-part daily soap telecast now on Eenadu TV.”

Isn’t it funny that a man who has even won awards for his humorous roles playing a negative character?

“On the contrary, I feel an actor should take up any challenging role that comes his way. And as for me, the confidence to play such a negative role was instilled in me by none other than the versatile Kamal Haasan. He offered me the role of a villain in his Kuridi Punal (Drohi in Telugu).

A couple of years ago, S.P. Balasubramaniam asked me to look after the production work of Subha Sankalpam, which he was making with Kamal Haasan in the lead. I was out of work then, and so I agreed. On the last day of the shoot, Kamal took me aside and asked me what sort of an image I had among viewers in Andhra Pradesh. I said I had none. He told me there was a small character, a villain in his film, Kurudi Punal and he would get in touch with me.

He did and I played the role, which in one scene requires me to rape a teenager. You know the best compliment I have received, it is from my wife (popular singer S.P. Sailaja). We were watching the movie in a theatre. After that particular scene is over, she shouted to the girl to kill him. And I was sitting beside her. I told her that was her husband, and yet she wanted him killed? Even actress Urvashi said that she couldn’t believe I could act so menacingly.

What I would like to tell you is that a complete actor should be able to carry any role on his shoulder with aplomb. And I am striving to do that. One advantage on the small screen is that the actors are not bogged down by the image factor or by the producers with business compulsions. So there is lot of scope for trying out new roles. That way I feel quite comfortable with the television medium, though I would like to devote my time to both cinema and television like I was doing in the late eighties. After all, each one has its own charm and reach.”