Suryakantam remembered

Cinema Cinema, the special screenings of documentaries of the legends of Telugu cinema paid tribute to the lady who immortalised the role of mother-in-law on silver screen, Suryakantam, this Sunday at Lamakaan.

If fear of the mother-in-law was ever to be embodied then Suryakantam would be the name. An artist who taught the Telugu audience to love the nagging, horrible and snide mother-in-law on screen was given a tribute this Sunday in Lamakaan, Hyderabad through Sai Chand’s documentary feature. It was the 6th installment in the documentary series paying tribute to the legends of telugu Cinema.

After half a century has passed people still use “Suryakantam” as a yardstick to measure a mother in law and that tells us how good Suryakantam was at what she did. She made her debut through Gemini studio in a small character role and never turned back. The Telugu audience has been lucky to have seen her act or rather live her roles in films like ‘Mayabazaar’, ‘Gundamma Katha’, ‘Kanya sulkam’, ‘Kula Gotralu’ etc . All in all she had been a part of 300 plus films. Who can forget her sequences with Relangi, Ramana Reddy, the ease with which she managed to pull off humour in serious family drama and the hilarious fights between her and ‘Chayadevi’ are just a few scenes that are etched into the memory of the audience.

All through her interview she expresses her gratitude for the chance she got to act in Vijaya films, Annapurna films, Gemini studios under tutelage of Chakrapani, BN Reddy, Naggi Reddy. In the documentary the most prominent element that comes out is so contrasting to the image that we have know of her on screen. She is soft spoken, sensitive, witty and extremely emotional. She recounts her habit of waking into the studio with a Namaste, in searching of the camera and adds that there was a plus to this habit of her. The studio was usually filled with eminent people and by waking in with a Namaste held she didn’t have to worry about offending anyone by not offering them a salutation. On the instant of recollecting her peak acting stage and her then co artists she almost broke down in their memory.

Uma Rani who worked with Suryakantam in 1987 in ‘Kodala Kodala Koduku Pellama’ shared her experiences in the making. She remembers Suryakantam being very friendly, encouraging and sincere. Her involvement in the scenes and her disciple in work were inspiring. There were instants in the set when the whole unit including the director got so involved in her acting that they forgot to say Cut and it was Suryakantam who had to break the scene to call a Cut. Suryakantam was a well know cook and everyone who had the pleasure of working with her got a taste of her other worldly cooking. It was her habit of bringing lunch and snacks for the whole unit. She was the opposite of what we see on screen motherly and loving, caring to a fault. After a scene where she had to scream at Nagayya garu she was at the verge of tears and needed a lot of consoling from Nagayya garu before she stopped.

The moment was made more memorable by Bnim Murthy and senior film journalist SV Rama Rao’s retelling of their fond memories and experiences with Suryakantam. She was a notorious prankster and once she fooled AV Saroja who didn’t understand Telugu into asking BN Reddy to marry her by convincing her, what she was saying to him in Telugu meant that he is a great man and it is my privilege to be working alongside you.

Movie making may have come a long way in terms of technology but it has lost many a gems to time. Suryakantam may not be amongst us today as it may be but she still lives on in many a hearts through her timeless nasty roles and her wonderful humane personality.