Samvrutha Sunil has travelled a quiet and determined path through Malayalam cinema over the past eight years. The talented actor handled vulnerability and effervescence with equal poise — at ease being Surabhi in Vaasthavam or Chandni in Manikyakkallu . With two movies — Ayallum Njanum Thammil and 101 Weddings — scheduled to release back-to-back over the next fortnight, Samvrutha is set to wrap up an innings in cinema. She will tie the knot on November 1 at Kannur and take off to the US.
Samvrutha takes stock of a career that made her an instant connect with Malayalis. “Looking back I would say there were two special points in my career. The year 2007 when I had three hits, Chocolate , Arabikatha and Hallo , after which I never had to look back. Then, Cocktail in 2010, which brought in another turn for me as an actor,” she says on the telephone from her home in Kannur.
The actor debuted in the Lal Jose movie Rasikan in 2004, and her last release before she flies off to the US is also coincidentally slated to be a Lal Jose production — Ayallum Njanum Thammil. “I play a doctor Sainu, who appears in the flashback set in the medical school. I play Prithviraj’s love interest and appear in about three to four scenes, but the character has a role to play in the whole film,” she says.
Samvrutha says she was never one to go by the length of the role or be wary of sharing the screen with other actors. Her career is testimony to that. Arike , Diamond Necklace , Neelathamara , and Happy Husbands are just part of a long list. But among these are her best performances and sparkling hits. “I always looked at the work — a good director and a good film. Even if it is a cameo I just wanted to make my work speak,” she says.
For an actor who has her share of success today, Samvrutha did not have a perfect start in the industry. Her debut was followed by couple of years of uncertainty and elusive success. “I took a while to establish myself, there were no hits in the beginning. But I learnt from each and every mistake I made,” she says in retrospect. She admits not being very serious about acting in the initial years. “Until Achanurangatha Veedu . That’s when I started taking the profession seriously.”
Evolving with each complex performance, Samvrutha says the thirst for good roles egged her on. On being offered the role of Kalpana in Shyamaprasad’s Arike , she says, “Kalpana is one of my favourite characters and I am totally in love with her. I reached a stage where I wanted to play that character very badly,” she says.
Samvrutha talks thoughtfully about withdrawing from the stage before the climax. “I have enjoyed my eight years. But I have always believed that cinema is a profession you cannot trust. You may have a handful of films now, but you cannot predict how it will be tomorrow. For me, my personal life is the priority and I believe it is the right time for me to get married.”
Though she says she hasn’t yet taken a decision on continuing acting, she admits we may not get to watch her in films “in the near future.”
As someone who has been part of the change that Malayalam cinema is witnessing today, Samvrutha says, “A very healthy and bright change is happening in Malayalam. The audience is willing to experiment and even the older generation of actors is trying to adapt to the change.”
101 Weddings, her next release, gives everyone enough to smile about. Samvrutha gets back with Shafi, the director who gave her one of her early hits, Chocolate. “It is a pucca comedy, a masala entertainer, and for the first time I am paired opposite Kunchacko Boban.”
