Potpourri of titbits about Tamil cinema

I donned the role of Narada in the drama staged by ‘Kalaivanar’ NSK. He cast me as the heroine of his film Marumagal, I was 17 at that time. My pair was S. V. Sahasranamam. The dialogues were written by ‘Kalaignar’ Karunanidhi who was greatly responsible for my perfect deliverance of dialogues. I had acted as Shivaji’s heroine in around 60 films. In the film ‘Edhirparaadhathu’, there was an emotional scene. Due to circumstances, I would marry Shivaji’s father when Shivaji would be abroad. Shivaji loses his sight in an accident and returns home. During the song sequence “Sirpi sedhukkadha porchilaye …”, Shivaji would hug me tightly, driven by emotion. I would slap him on his face. Shivaji encouraged me to do the slapping part of the scene without any hesitation so that the shot would be realistic. After some initial hesitation, I slapped Shivaji so strongly that he had to take injections and rest for three days because his cheeks swelled due to slapping. I apologized to Shivaji because I felt very guilty and presented him with a Fiat car to come out of my guilty feeling! MGR would give me many useful tips. He would insist on correct reaction and would ask me to watch the scenes of other artistes also. I used to call him ‘chettan’. I visit all my friends in the industry whenever I visit India.”

Padmini used to contact all her media friends and invite them to her house and learn about the film industry of the time. In 2004, when she visited Chennai, she was limping. She told me that she had a slip in the bathroom in America and had a minor surgery. I was saddened to think that the feet that enchanted the viewers with their astonishing movements during dancing were unable to move even. Padmini expressed great concern over the suicides and divorces of artistes. When she came again in 2006, she looked very cheerful. She said that she would settle down in Chennai and that she would resume acting. But her wish did not last long. During the function got up at the Nehru Stadium to felicitate Kalaignar, she swooned suddenly. She was rushed to a hospital but the doctors couldn’t save her. She died on 9th September 2006. But she lives even today in the hearts of all cine-goers.