D ancer Sona Nair grew into a successful actress. A commendable body of work speaks for her acting calibre, both on the big screen and the mini screen. It was 24 years ago that she debuted on television with the serial ‘Oru Kudayum Kunju Pengalum’ on Doordarshan. Sathyan Anthikad’s Thoovalkottaram marked her entry into films.
While the role in Priyanandan’s Neythukaran fetched her the Kerala State Film Award for the second best actress, she won the state television award twice, for her roles in ‘Rachiyamma’ and ‘Thyagam’ (2004) and ‘Samasya’ and ‘Jalam’ (2006). Sona who chooses to be “extremely selective” about her roles, admits that she has had her share of disappointments. She even took a break from television for a while. Now she is back in a “powerful role” in ‘Punarjani’, a serial aired on Surya TV. Over to Sona who gets talking candid about her career:
You’ve returned to the small screen after a while…
I stayed away due to many reasons. I didn’t want to do run-of-the-mill daily soaps that just go on and on. The storylines were more or less similar and the actresses either had to be really bad or be forever shedding tears.
Another reason was that though I have got some challenging and powerful roles in serials, those works were discontinued after sometime, citing a drop in TAM ratings. Even my last serial, ‘Makal’, was pulled off after a few episodes. So, altogether I was totally unhappy with the scenario and decided to take a break.
So, why ‘Punarjani’?
Because it has a lot of scope to perform. The character, Ashalatha Thampuran, is a doctor who runs the hospital started by her husband after his death. She has a formidable enemy in her brother-in-law who is involved in a lot of illegal activities in the hospital. Ashalatha is fighting a lonely battle, but never breaks down in the face of problems. It is that strength in her that made me say yes to the role.
On her career
I have done meaty roles in my career, like the ones in Naran and Passenger . When people ask me why I am not doing such roles, my reply is that I don’t want to do roles like that! In fact, I need roles that challenge me as an artiste. I don’t mind playing a mother or a sister provided I have something to do as an actress.
Of course, I have done a lot of films because my friends or well-wishers were involved in them. Some of them didn’t do well. But I don’t regret that. In the end, I should find satisfaction while doing a role. You can’t have the best of everything in a work. Change is part and parcel of the entertainment industry and the best thing one can do is go with the flow.
Current projects
Thilothama directed by Preethi Panikkar will release soon. I have also got Tamil and Telugu projects. But what really excites me these days are short films. I am doing a lot of them. It is always exciting to work with a crew full of new ideas and thoughts. Moreover, they come with such wonderful themes, some of which are fresh takes on time-tested topics.
Looking ahead
There was a time when dance was my life. I cut down programmes after getting into films. But now I am back on stage and have started giving performances. I am learning classical dance again.
‘Punarjani’ airs on Surya TV, Monday to Friday at 8 p.m.
