‘I accepted it for the project, not just for my role': Suhasini on ‘Jai Mahendran’ | WATCH
Acclaimed actor Suhasini Mani Ratnam recently captivated audiences with her compelling portrayal in Sony LIV's Malayalam series 'Jai Mahendran' as Tahsildar Shobha.
In an exclusive interview, Suhasini delved into the inspirations behind her decision to join this critically acclaimed project, starring Saiju Kurup in the lead.
When asked how she decides whether to be a part of a certain project or not, she said that it is the audience’s acceptance that she keeps in mind first. Talking about it, Suhasini said, “The first and foremost issue is how the audience will accept it as a project. That is my first criterion. After that, it is my character. Sometimes, I become selfish. Even if the overall project is wishy-washy, but my character is interesting, then I choose to do it. Then it’s a compromise.”
“Sometimes, my role is ordinary but the project is interesting, then too I decide to be a part of it,” she added, while mentioning that ‘Jai Mahendran’ was one such project. “I think Jai Mahendran fits into the category wherein the whole project is interesting, but my character is that of a supporting role. I was aware that it was going to be an interesting project, so it’s nice to be a part of it. I never thought that I was playing the lead here (in ‘Jai Mahendran’) because I knew it was the story of Mahendran. I’m there, and I come as a good reflection to him. I come in the second episode, and only in the fourth episode does the problem get established. So, it’s the Mahendran show all the way and his colleagues. But I’m glad that there is a female who comes, and they both become partners in difficulties, and they get together to sort out the problem. I accepted ‘Jai Mahnedran’ for the project; not just for my role,” she said.
WATCH FIRST PART OF THE INTERVIEW HERE:
Suhasini also shared a fascinating anecdote about how renowned critic and writer Baradwaj Rangan played a pivotal role in bringing her on board, persuading her to listen to Rahul Riji Iyer's engaging narrative.
Recalling her conversation with Baradwaj, she said, “We don’t know most of the new filmmakers that are there in the film industry. I work in four film industries - Tamil, Telugu, Malayalam, and Kannada. In Tamil at least I can find out locally as to who the director is and what films he has done. But when it comes to Malayalam, Kannada, and Telugu, I have to depend on friends. When Rahul Riji Nair approached to tell me the story of ‘Jai Mahendra’, before listening to the story, I spoke to Baradwaj Rangan, who is a very good friend of ours. I said that I’m aware Rahul has done some award-winning films, but I’m a mainstream actress. Not that I don’t appreciate award-winning films because we were always part of the parallel cinema but I wanted to know what kind of film Rahul is going to make. Baradwaj said, ‘Just listen to his story. He is a very interesting person.’ So I got positive feedback from Baradwaj. That’s how I agreed to listen to the story.”
Furthermore, when Suhasini agreed to listen to the web series’s story, she was scheduled for a Zoom meeting with Rahul and ‘Jai Mahendran’ director, Srikanth Mohan. During the narration, Suhasini had only one concern that she had played uptight government officials in the past, and was willing to know how the team would make the role of Shobha different from her past roles.
“When they narrated the story, the first thing that I told them was that it looked like a very uptight government officer. I have done roles like excise duty officer, principal, chief minister, external affairs minister, finance minister, and all those roles wherein you had to sit on a chair and talk to everybody while dismissing a few people off. So I said, how is this going to be different? I told them that you would have to make sure that this looks different. I didn’t ask them how they would do it, but told them that it’s your responsibility to make the character look different. He(Srikanth) said it’s going to be a very humorous point of view for the revenue office. He also told me that I’m a good cop while Mahendran is a bad cop. He (Mahendran) is a wheeler-dealer kind of a person whereas Shobha is a straightforward person. I realized they can't make Suhasini the wheeler-dealer because there is an image to it.”
That is not all. After the role was narrated to her, Suhasini also gave her suggestions to make the role better. “When they narrated the story to me, I said when you meet government officers, they don’t talk directly about your problem but will talk saying, ‘You know when my uncle was a revenue officer, he told me this..’ I said people always have these episodes so why can’t you incorporate that? They went with it. After that the concentration was moved to the costume of the tahsildar,” the National Film Award-winner concluded.