Every time actress Sadaa has a film up for release, the one thing everyone seems to ask her is: “Where did you go all these days?” By now, the Mumbai-based actor is used to these queries. At one level, she says she understands them. After all, one would have expected the star of hits such as Jayam , Anniyan and Unnale Unnale to keep churning out movies on the trot. But, that never happened. “I did some films without much thought, and would wonder why on earth I signed up for them,” she admits. And so, she took a conscious decision to move away from what was being offered. Her last release was Eli , with Vadivelu.
And then, when she was in Chennai as part of Vijay TV’s Jodi No 1 , director Abdul Majith (of Tamizhan fame; the film that saw Priyanka Chopra make her début in films) met her and narrated a story about sex workers. That film is Torchlight , co-starring Riythvika. It releases this Friday after a protracted battle with the Censor Board; the director has effected 87 cuts in the film. Set in the 80s and 90s, it speaks about the plight of women who solicit customers on highways due to family circumstances, and who lead miserable lives.
“I wanted to move away from regular commercial stuff and do something more mature as an actor. I wanted to be part of a film that would have me as a performer, and one in which I enjoyed the process of making it, no matter what the outcome,” she says.
Even before this, she did get offers from many first-time directors and producers, but was wary of signing up for films that might never see the light of day. “I was surprised when he told me that this script had been rejected by many others. There was no way anyone wanting to do a good film could have rejected this! It is bold, has hard-hitting dialogues that might shock people, but is rooted in reality. And, no, contrary to what many think, it has been shot aesthetically. That was among my conditions before getting on board the film. Luckily for me, Majith sir had done his homework and research. I merely had to follow instructions.”
Sadaa says that she is happy people still miss her. And, even after all these years, there is a sense of disappointment at the offers that came her way after she proved she was heroine material. “I think that was probably because some of those films were way ahead of their time. For instance, Unnale Unnale is the kind of film that is still contemporary now.”
One reason, Sadaa says, is that she can’t bring herself to socialise and scout for offers. “Once I complete my work, I move on. I’ve been lucky that filmmakers approached me, and not the other way around,” says the actress, who has two more films coming up. And, in between all of that, she’s busy with her latest passion — veganism, and her long-time work with rescuing animals and encouraging people to adopt and not shop for pets.
