Film appreciation with Sensitive Vidya Balan and Padmapriya
K S Sivakumaran
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Vidya Balan
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These days those men and women who play in the films and theatre are
called simply actors –no gender discrimination. So I would call her an
‘actor’. And an actor is more a respected appellation than a mere ‘star’
that glitters for sometime and then heard no more.
Although Vidya Balan is in the transient film industry mainly in the
Bollywood scene that is unpredictable, she has garnered a niche as a
sensitive actor within a short period of time.
Among the Kerala State born contemporary women players on the screen,
I like Meera Jasmine and Vidya Balan for their intelligent playing of
their roles. In fact they act rather than play a glamorous rendition.
And acting is a strong component in the overall creation of an artistic
film.
Though born in different states in India most actors act in different
language films which is a good thing. They bring in shades of different
cultural dimensions to their performances. Judging acting after all is
also part of film appreciation.
We learn this young lady in her 30s was born on January 1, 1978 in
Palakaadu that borders between the Kerala and Tamil Nadu states. She was
born into a Thamilian Brahmin family, but acts mainly in Hindi films.
She did her studies for a Master’s degree in Sociology from the
University of Mumbai.
I had seen her acting in only two Hindi films even though she had
appeared in other language films including Tamil. The two films were
Paraneeta and Paa.
We have earlier given our impressions and appreciation on Paraneeta
in these columns. Another South Indian actor is Padmapriya. Like Vidya
Balan, she too is an unglamorous (I mean pretty but not showing off in
an unnatural manner) but sensitive actor.
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Padmapriya Janakiraman |
I met her last December in Thiruvanathapuram at the Kerala
International Film Festival. Padmapriya Janakiraman was born in Dilli
and brought up in Punjab.
She has an MBA degree in finance. She was also born into a Brahmin
family in Kerala.
Her acting in the (Tamil film Thavamaai Thavamirunthu with Cheran ( a
fine director and actor), another Thamil film Pattiyal with Arya and in
Adoor Gopalakrishnan’s Malayalam film Naalu Pengal were astonishingly
character portrayals.
I liked all the three films. Surprisingly she is a model and
possesses such different presence as a Bharatha Natyam dancer.
In an interview with Indian film journalist Jyothi Venkatesh, she
said:
I do not mind a hero-centric film. In any case, I feel that we only
have women-centric films, not male-centric films. The fallacy starts
from there. We all belong to the same human race. Adoor Gopalkrishnan
(artistic Malayalam filmmaker_ made Naaalu Pengal and he is a man.
I do not see obvious distinctions but I feel that it is the audiences
who should be blamed as they are not ready to accept female stars as
super stars. I am not saying we re not important but at the same time,
even if I do my job and have the capability and the star presence, do
you think I can make a film run on my shoulders like Mamooty ( a fine
Malayalam actor). The credit goes to the audience.”
Thus we see educated women coming into the film scene in India and
contributing to the uplift of serious acting in the cinema.
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