The first question everyone usually asks Sadaa is: “Where have you been all these days?” The actress, whose Eli with Vadivelu releases today, is unfazed, and just smiles in reply.
“I have a life beyond acting, and I’ve lived it well,” she says, holding two baby pigeons in her hand. The pigeons are proof of the other life she leads, as an animal rescue activist. “I saved about 40 of them from a building they were stranded in. The rest flew away; these two adopted me,” she laughs.
For many filmgoers, Sadaa has been an enigma. Despite starring in several superhits such as Jayam , Anniyan and Unnale Unnale , she chose to maintain a low profile. She’s always lived out of Mumbai, something she says probably contributed to her doing fewer films. She’s also been a victim of communication gap, losing out on projects because directors were given to understand she was not interested. “But that’s the past, and I can’t change it. Even in my heyday, I’ve never kept track of who is casting for what, and approached people. It is just not my nature. I never ever wished to appear desperate for work,” she says. Also, once she finished a project, Sadaa moved on, and did not stay in touch with the team. “All my friends are from outside the industry.”
And so, when the makers of Eli approached her, she took a while to go ahead with it. “A couple of things about it grabbed my interest. First, it is a film based in the 1960s; I’ve never done something that vintage. Second, I have some incredible songs picturised on me — one is a club song that thrilled the dancer in me, and the second is a Tamil version of the cult ‘Mere Sapnon Ki Rani’. How could I miss out on such an opportunity?”
Sadaa has always been particular about how she appears on screen. Even for Anniyan , director Shankar sent her costume references so that she was comfortable with what she had to wear. “There are certain things I cannot do and I make them very clear before shooting. Despite all this, I’ve managed to do good work. I’ve done films that have been trendsetters; roles that have been unique and realistic. All this without any networking; so I’m very happy with what I’ve achieved,” she says.
She did keep getting offers in between, but Sadaa did not want to do a project that would unravel the reputation she’d earned. “I did act in Kannada and Malayalam, and those films did well too, but my main focus has been Tamil and Telugu. I’m just waiting to do roles that are real, that come with warts, with glorious shades of grey,” she says.
It is with that hope in mind that she’s reading a script — a Tamil-Malayalam bilingual that she hopes to sign up for soon. “I want a role I can sink my teeth into, a role that will leave an impact on the audience,” she says.
