“My dream has been fulfilled. I am very happy.” This was how septuagenarian Ballari Sujathamma, well-known ‘bylaata’ and ‘parijatha’ artiste, reacted when she heard about her being chosen for the Karnataka Rajyotsava Award.
After learning music under the tutelage of her father, Ms. Sujathamma took to acting at the age of 10. Her career as an artiste began with ‘Girija Kalyan,’ where she donned the role of Rathi. Since then, she has acted in various mythological plays not only in ‘bylaata’ and ‘parijatha’, but also in theatre, including the Ramayana, where she donned the lead role. “Acting was the only source of income to feed my family and also to raise my children. I was forced to act in a play when my son, daughter-in-law and my grandson died in a fire accident. Such was our economic condition. Luckily, I used to get opportunities to act and I won the appreciation of the connoisseurs,” she told The Hindu . Though she still gets requests to act in plays, Ms. Sujathamma rejects them because of her age. She now trains people in acting and singing.
