A heroine turns hero

Jyotika who could well have ended up not doing her up coming film 36 Vayadhinile tells what it means to face the arclights once again.

April 14, 2015 07:29 pm | Updated December 05, 2021 09:08 am IST

A still from 36 Vayadhinile.

A still from 36 Vayadhinile.

When you have children, your life begins to revolve around them, your days around theirs — even if you are Jyotika, one of the few contemporary actresses to have performed alongside Rajinikanth, Kamal Haasan, Vijay, Ajith and of course, her husband Suriya. And, if it weren’t for the school vacation in December last year, Jyotika could well have ended up not doing 36 Vayadhinile . Well, that and the fact that her children are a little grown up: Diya is seven and Dev almost five.

Were you waiting for a convenient time to make a comeback?

I didn’t even know if I was going to. Even with things being as convenient as they were when I was asked to do this film, I took two days to decide. I don’t ever want to become one of those parents who, in spending so much time at work, have no idea what their children are up to. Children come first, films a distant second.

Still, quitting cinema must have been an incredibly difficult decision to take, especially at a time when you were doing the best work of your career (Mozhi and Pachaikili Muthucharam)?

That’s always the case with actresses. You get taken seriously only after you ride down the storm of the first few years. That’s when the good roles start coming as the one in  Mozhi  did. (I point out that she didn’t quite say the ‘zh’ in  Mozhi  right. She laughs sheepishly.) But no, it wasn’t difficult for me. Having a family and children were long-cherished dreams. That’s why we didn’t wait too long after marriage to have children. So, to return advances to several producers wasn’t as heartbreaking as you’d think.

Did you feel far-removed from the actress you were when shooting for 36 Vayadhinile?

( Laughs ) Not really. I was quite nervous on the first day. Acting, I realised, was harder as I now had more responsibility than I did during my first innings. I also understood that if a tad overdone, the whole performance could end up not being taken seriously. And then, of course, my biggest concern — my appearance. I wanted to look good again. I developed backach after I had Dev. I must have put on 35 kg at least! And when you are over 30, your metabolism slows down and makes it hard to lose weight. Also, you can’t have Suriya for a husband and not work out. For the last few years, I’ve been doing yogawith a friend, Gayatri Srinath. She has helped me a lot. Except weekends, I’ve been working out every day for the last few years. After I decided to do the film, I put in more hours.

In a way, is the film a metaphor for your life? The title, after all, takes after your age.

Director Rosshan wanted somebody who was similar to the protagonist; somebody with a ‘clear life’. Everything happened in my life at just the right time. I married and had children at the age that many women do. And now, I’m back to work. However, many women in our society let their lives take a backseat forever. They don’t ever get back to doing something for themselves. This film emphasises that life doesn’t have to end for a woman after marriage.

Why did you quit films then after marriage?

I wasn’t quite sacrificing my career. It was just a break. I just wanted something else more —  a husband and children. But now life is more settled and I can get back to devoting time for myself again — like many women should.

What did you like most about the original Malayalam film, How Old Are You , when you saw it?

The message is beautiful. And I loved the fact that nobody dies in this film. It has become a gimmick in Tamil films these days — killing people off for a twist. Too many films kill an important character just before the intermission to shock the audience. There’s nothing of that sort in this film. In fact, there are even periods when the audience has to wait for something to happen.

And you’re confident that the Tamil audience has the patience?

We can only do a good film and hope for the best. I’m confident that it will strike a chord with the audience. Small films have started doing really well. I believe the power of dialogues always trumps the power of fight scenes.  Mozhi  was a big example.

Tamil cinema has given you a lot — money, fame and a family. Is this film a way of giving back to it?

It’s me, a woman, giving back to women. I’m friends with the mothers of my daughter’s classmates at Sishya. There are many women, with often more academic qualifications than their husbands, who lose themselves while devoting time to their families. This film will make women remember to take care of themselves too.

These parents… are they able to look past Jyotika, the star?

(Laughs)  Definitely. The problem arises only when stars make a big deal of themselves. One of my closest friends, Sarah, is a parent of Diya’s close friend in school. I have at least 50-60 friends whose children study at Sishya. As long as stars don’t walk around with an entourage, people don’t care.

It must have helped a lot that Suriya is the producer of 36 Vayadhinile.

I’d be lying if I told you it didn’t. Shooting didn’t go past the evenings. I got Sundays off too. It was all very comfortable. And all this in a film in which I was playing the hero. After playing the heroine in as many films as I’ve done, it’s great to be the ‘hero’ in a home banner. That I’m Suriya’s wife, I think, also makes me more relatable in the film. Tamil audiences understand that I’m one of their own as I’m married into a Tamil family with strong cultural values. My words in the film will matter to them.

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