Sharadamma, the late Kannada comedian T.R. Narasimharaju’s wife, is a person one cherishes meeting. Impeccable grace, hospitable and warm. Talking to the octogenarian Sharadamma brings alive the world of Kannada cinema and its glorious interpersonal relationships of the 60s and 70s. Without much ado, she speaks as if she is talking of the neighbourhood that she lived in. Well, in one sense, it was literally her neighbourhood.
“We got married in 1949. Do you remember the Bhameya Nodalu Taa Banda scene in the film School Master ? The film was made later, but that scene, particularly the eye movements of my husband was something that I was witness to much earlier in my life. I used to live in Chikkanayakanahalli with my grandmother. The walls of houses in those days were made from wattles and I saw a pair of eyes staring at me from behind it, and that was my husband, who had come to see me,” remembers Sharadamma.
In those days, Narasimharaju was still with company theatre. He used to play roles in many small companies those days. Edathore Company, Shri Chandramauleshwara Nataka Sabha, Hirannaiah Mitra Mandali, Bharatha Lalitha Kala Sangha, Gunda Joisara Company of Belur and several others, he eventually joined the Gubbi Company. “I got married and went to live in the company. Each time the company moved to a different location, we too moved. But life was fine. What my husband earned was little, but we were content. Even when he was the star of Kannada cinema, he never got a huge sum of money. But I never felt we had less,” says Sharadamma, unwinding to the early days of her marriage. Apart from being an actor in several companies, Narasimharaju would himself set up a company, do a couple of shows, then dissolve it when he lost money. “He kept losing money, but kept going back to it. I loved my life in the company, we travelled extensively all over Karnataka. People would come from nearby villages in thousands if my husband was acting in a play. Gubbi Veeranna simply adored my husband. In fact, he even played hero in the play, ‘Dharma Ratnakara’. Veeranna would always say to my husband, ‘You are a gem. You will bring glory to my name.’”
After he entered Kannada cinema, his association with theatre reduced. But even then, whenever Narasimharaju had a day or two free he would act in a play. Particularly, if he knew a drama company was doing badly. Between 1954 and 1979, Narasimharaju acted in more than 250 films, a number that not even iconic actors could achieve. Forget the amazing comic timing of this unparalleled king of comedy, just his presence would set people laughing. “Forget about others, we at home would laugh uncontrollably when we saw him on screen,” giggles Sharadamma.
“But at home he was very short tempered, Narasimhavatara itself…,” she laughs again.
“If the children didn’t listen to him, if they weren’t meticulous with school work, didn’t behave properly… that’s it. He would fly into a fury!” Narasimharaju, his wife says, could never pardon lies and deceit. “He was a self-respecting man, loyal and trustworthy. He would smoke occasionally, but apart from that he didn’t have any vice, something that one associates with people of cinema. My children have taken after him. None of them have gone around asking for favours. My second son is good looking and talented. He tried his hand in cinema, but he didn’t like the environment in the industry and gave up. What should come to us, will do…,” she reasons. Sharadamma speaks of Narasimharaju’s fondness for his family. When he was at home, he wanted every family member to be present. Narasimharaju loved a hearty meal, his fix of betel, and enjoyed playing a game of dice, or cards with his family. He took the children to watch good films, and he and his wife always visited the best of hotels. “He loved good food. And he had favourite restaurants. Westend, Ashoka, Olympus… he has taken me everywhere. He was a good husband and a good father, he gave me a very good life,” Sharadamma pauses momentarily. “Even today, whatever we are is because of him. We may not be rolling in riches, but we lead a very comfortable life and we owe it to him. He is long gone, but wherever we go in Karnataka, people receive us with so much affection. Every day, when I light the lamp, I think of him….”
Narasimharaju was among the first Kannada actors to have a home in Madras, from where Kannada film industry operated in those years. “Kannada actor Ashwath was so happy for us. He would say, ‘Narasimharaju I am so proud of you. You have a house in Madras, a car, a phone and the first Kannada actor to even pay Income Tax.’ Tamil film industry came with plenty of offers for Narasimharaju, but he wasn’t interested. But for a Tamil film and two Hindi films, Narasimharaju stuck to Kannada. His Kannada pride was unshakeable. “We would long to find Kannadigas in Madras. When Rajkumar and other Kannada actors moved to Madras, it was very good for us. During Sankranti festival I would make a bucket full of yellu and go looking for Kannada families. People in those days were different – they were genuinely affectionate. That is something we have lost now.”
Sharadamma speaks in her own unassuming way about the great friendships of those years. When she lost her three-month-old baby and ran into health complications, she was admitted to a hospital in Royapettah. “My husband was busy, I had nine children, it was an alien city, but I never felt alone. You won’t believe how Harini, Pandari Bai, Sarojadevi…. all of them came to take care of me. Harini was a busy star in those days, but every night she would come to the hospital with soft rice for me and stay over. Pandari Bai came in the mornings. Everyone loved me, and I think it is god’s grace.” Veteran actor Balakrishna’s wife was fond of Sharadamma, and so was Parvathamma. G.V. Iyer’s wife Sundaramma was an angel, large-hearted and hospitable. “My husband, Rajkumar, Balanna and G.V. Iyer were very close to each other. They spent a lot of time together and often Sundaramma would give them all ‘kaituttu’. She used to say, ‘time may take us all in different routes, but I have etched the friendship of these four in my heart – they are to me Balanarasimharaja Iyer, four in one’. Can you even think of such relationships now?”
Narasimharaju’s oldest son, Shrikant was very close to his father. He constantly hung around with his father and attended to every need. In fact, when he was a little boy, he spent a lot of time in the Rajkumar household, and would in fact, call Rajkumar appaji.
Rajkumar too, treated Shrikant like his own son. Shrikant, knowing the bond that his father shared with Rajkumar had gotten them into a pact.
As soon as they arrived at the studio, they were supposed to loudly greet each other with a ‘hello’, so loud that it had to reverberate in the entire studio.
And this, the duo did! So much so that in the studios of Madras, the minute Rajkumar and Narasimharaju arrived they would say, ‘Nanbars have come!’
The way Narasimharaju and Balakrishna rehearsed is another amazing story. “My husband would make gestures and Balanna would know. He was so sharp. The dialogue could be improvised in any way, but the cue was always intact. And how Balanna would take off… he was extraordinary. It is all so moving…,” says Sharadamma.
Those were the times when India had the finest comedians. Johnny Walker, Mehmood, Tainagesh, Paintal, Asrani… a whole lot of them. Was Narasimharaju inspired by any of them? “He would watch them all. But he admired the Telugu comedian and was great friends with Padmanabham, Rajababu and Relangi. Mehmood would come home once in a while. But it was Amitabh Bachchan that my husband considered one of the best actors of India.”
Once, to collect funds for drought, there was an exhibition match in Kanteerava Stadium. “It was probably in 1974. My husband was the opening batsmen. This chit of a personality was being approached by a towering bowler, and it was Amitabh Bachchan! He got bowled in the very first ball. ‘One more chance please,’ he begged and the whole stadium burst into peels of laughter. Of course, if Narasimharaju asks, could they possibly deny it to him? He did get another chance, but again he got bowled,” Sharadamma recalls.
Narasimharaju became synonymous with comedy and Kannada cinema. In fact, he represented the best of comic tradition in cinema. Sadly, an actor who was so iconic in stature was never recognised by the government, not even posthumously.
“It is 36 years since he passed away, I do not want to talk about it anymore… he lives on in the hearts of people. That is a great reward,” says Sharadamma, with equanimity.
