Twin delights

Actor Saranya on playing mom-in-law in Pappali and giving wing to her fashion designer dreams

A still from Pappali

Actor Saranya Ponvannan is on a high. This month has been very special for her on two counts. For the first time in her career, she plays a mother-in-law in the just-released Pappali , and she’s all set to open an institute of fashion design.

“A mom-in-law is also a mother, but this film focusses on the relationship between a maapillai and maamiyar ,” says Saranya, who has for long been slotted as a mother in Tamil cinema. “It’s a nice character. Usually mothers wish a son-in-law should be well-settled, but this one says her daughter’s happiness comes first and so, does all she can to help her son-in-law achieve his dreams even when his parents don’t,” says Saranya. The film also touched a chord because it dealt with education, and the actress was experiencing the pressures of academics at home — one of her daughters is doing her Class XI.

Saranya, whose upcoming release is

Velaiyilla Pattathari , has rarely been seen in anything other than a sari in films. Does it not get boring for someone like her who’s very fond of fashion? “I’ve made my peace with that. I’ve also figured out that people have accepted me in a particular look; tampering with that might prove counter-productive,” she says. But, yes, just to keep boredom at bay, Saranya says she brings in variations in every ‘amma’ character she does.

The actor, who trained in fashion designing 20 years ago, has been creating garments all these years, sitting at her tailoring machine. “My kids wear my creations. I’ve also designed for friends’ children and some star kids,” she says. Bowing to requests from friends, Saranya has decided to train others in the fine art of designing. Each course will last five months. “At the end of it, they’ll be able to create something really nice on their own. And yes, I’ll be their teacheramma,” she laughs. It looks like the ‘amma’ tag is not going to leave Saranya soon!

For details about the course, mail softworld14@gmail.com