Saranya Ponvannan was too young to know about films when her father A.B. Raj was churning out hits after hits in Malayalam cinema. So she had a lot of catching up to do when she grew up and began working as an actress.
“I love the kind of films he made – pure entertainers, with plenty of comedy, emotions and action,” Saranya tells The Hindu over phone from Chennai, a couple of days after her father died at the age of 95 . “I am proud of his films. As a child, I hadn't known that he was so widely respected as a director in his time.”
It was only when she started acting in Malayalam films – she debuted with Artham in 1989 – that she realised the kind of films Raj had done, in the 1960s and 70s.
“My fellow-actors told me they had stood in long queues to get a ticket for my father's films like Irumbazhikal ,” she recalls. “Actors like Innocent, Jagathy Sreekumar and Maniyan Pillai Raju told me how they used to come to our home in Chennai to request him for work.”
Saranya, who has had a long career in cinema and is a National Award winner for the best actress, says she relied on her father's judgment while choosing her roles. “He wasn't very keen about my joining films when I was offered Mani Ratnam's Nayakan and had told me that I would have to make sacrifices if I wanted to pursue a career in cinema,” she says. “But I wanted to act and he supported me. He was happy with the kind of work I did.”
She is disappointed that the present generation doesn't know much about him. “He deserved more recognition,” she says. “But I don't think he was bothered about it, though.”
