The true act
DEEPA GANESH
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Umashree is the proud recipient of the Best Actress award from the Osian jury for her performance in Gulabi Talkies. The down-to-earth actress takes you along her three-decade journey in films and theatre
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Photo: Bhagya Prakash K
LIFE OF HER OWN Umashree: ‘People accuse me of having a loud mouth. But this insolence is what society gave me. To protect myself, I used my mouth as a weapon’
Excellence is not a singular act, but a habit. You are what you repeatedly do.
Shaquille O Neal
Having acted in over 350 films, in over 200 plays and winning six Best Supporting Actress awards, imagine the starry airs that you have to put up with. The most recent being the Best Actress award from the prestigious Osian jury – the first for an Indian actor; you tremble in trepidation. “Your fears are not far fetched,” says the wonderful actor Umashree comfortingly. “If I have survived in the film industry it is with my theatre sensibilities,” says the actor, who has shot to international fame with her performance in Girish Kasaravalli’s film “Gulabi Talkies”. “Try getting one of our heroines to change in Kalakshetra bathroom or sleep backstage. Theatre keeps you grounded, far away from the illusory grandeur and glamour of films,” explains Umashree.
Umashree could have lived a cocooned existence: her world of acting and a home that she worries about. But then she couldn’t dissociate from politics, the cause of commercial sex workers, the weaving community, her English classes, computer classes, and now she wants to learn music. Umashree is excited about the play that she is acting in; she pulls out a copy of the script, reads out a poem and holds forth on the various meanings it throws up. “Isn’t it beautiful? See how he blends ecology with larger life issues...,” she starts reciting it all over again. For the benefit of the interviewer, she does try hard to stick to a linear trail of thought, but that’s not to be. Memories come cascading, one piling on the other, each moment with time’s multiple strands. So it had to be back and forth, now and not now.
“When I started out, all on my own at 18, I was innocent. There were only two worlds, my acting and my children who had to be fed and nurtured,” recalls Umashree. She had to learn soon. Sensing her helplessness, the world was ready to pounce. “People accuse me of being a loud mouth. But this insolence is what the society gave me. To protect myself, I used my mouth as a weapon,” reasons the actor. “I’m not an educated woman. I dropped out in the tenth standard. Life’s experiences have educated me,” she says.
Inspite of the many characters and many roles, Umashree has never been able to outdo herself as Sakavva of “Odalala”. What makes her so convincing in the role of the marginalised? Isn’t it true of Gulabi too, that she plays to such perfection? “We should be able to get angry, I mean a rightful indignation. Things around disturb me, I get worried... that’s probably why...I don’t know,” she trails off.“I do think of my roles, but I never overwork on them,” she adds. Umashree however admits to her great fascination for language variations, people’s mannerisms, how landscapes bear an influence on people’s attitude and so forth. “I travel a lot, observe people very closely and try to bring it into the roles I play....” Working with directors like Girish Kasaravalli is different experience, she says. “You must be willing to unlearn. All you need to do is follow instructions and that is more than adequate.”
Umashree has been associated with rural theatre since 1978. She became part of amateur theatre in 1979 and was working round the clock till 1985. “In the meanwhile, I got small roles in ‘Pattanakke Banda Patniyaru’, ‘Marali Goodige’…” Umashree remembers her brush with Puttanna Kanagal who gave her a role in “Amrutavarshini” and rejected her as unfit for films. “It didn’t work. I was simply unable to follow anything that he said.” Umashree got the big break after her outstanding work in “Odalaala”. In 1983, Kashinath was looking for actors for his film “Anubhava” and no actress was prepared to play the negative role. Umashree agreed to do it. “All I knew was that I was an actor and every role was important. The film went on to become a super hit and ran for two years.”
But like it happens to most talented actors, Umashree too was slotted. “It continued till ‘95, but things changed after that. I got a variety of roles and have no reasons to complain. Moreover, market verdict is so important for Kannada films that even when they want to try they are scared they will lose money.” Isn’t it sad that no one in the industry dared to make a film for someone as talented as her. “In an industry that has such rigid notions about beauty and glamour, why would they want to have someone like me to play the protagonist? But to be fair, when deglamourised roles are discussed, Umashree does figure.”
Actors are beyond caste, class and community. Why did Umashree choose to contest from Terdal, which has the weaving community in large numbers? Did she have to succumb to the party’s agenda? “No, that’s not true. I wanted to contest from South Bangalore but didn’t get a ticket. Then Sonia Gandhi madam said I should contest from Terdal, and so I did. Anyway, whatever is the agenda, I welcome the decision, because it is so difficult for women to get a ticket.”
What disturbs Umashree the most is the people in politics. “They are corrupt in every way, even emotionally. What can you expect? You have to be either scheming or you should have money and muscle power,” she says.
There have been unanticipated twists, ups and downs. It is her acting that has kept her going. “I have never asked for opportunities. There was a time when I did 20 films a year, now I do just five or six. I don’t worry. If not this, then something else…,” says Umashree, who is feeling very satisfied with the award.
As if lost in a trance, “Winning and losing are part of life. In a way, I have own, but I have lost too…,” says Umashree, philosophically.
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