Radikaa Sarathkumar On Almost Rejecting ‘Thaai Khizavi’: ‘I Didn’t Want People Calling Me Chitti (Aunt)’ (EXCLUSIVE)

Radikaa Sarathkumar's latest release “Thaai Khizavi” has taken the Kollywood box office by storm.  In just two weeks, this female-centric film, centred around an older woman, collected ₹47.08 crores at the box office. She underwent a dramatic transformation to portray Pavunuthaayi, a feisty and independent senior citizen in this village drama earning accolades from the South Indian film industry. 

Not one to play by conventional rules, Radikaa has followed her intuition while identifying scripts with substance. This National award-winning actress, who is also a successful producer, has almost 200 movies to her credit in all South Indian languages. She has reinvented herself with every decade, keeping pace with the changes in the industry and adapting herself to changing demands.

In an exclusive conversation with Variety India, the star talks about her foray into cinema, her brief fray in Hindi cinema, the success of "Thaai Khizavi," her hesitation to play the role of Pavunuthayi, the eight-hour shift demand by heroines and the pay parity dispute in the film industry.

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Older female characters are finally getting their due in India. Do you think there is a shift in the audience mindset? 

The audiences want to see good content. That's it. It has nothing to do with a woman’s age. It is just the script that needs to work. Yes, the protagonist in this film was an older woman and that did take everyone by surprise. It's like a game changer, right? I hope it lasts long for all the other female actors as well. Because this is a male-driven industry. And as women or female actors, we face a lot of challenges. We have to look good, we have to be careful about our ageing. We have to care about our weight; we have to care about our skin. And which man is worried about all that? So, definitely there is a change happening. And for me, it's the role which matters. And I have no calculations of any sort. I just want something I feel works; it's entertaining; it will work with the audience. 

You were initially hesitant to take up this role initially. What convinced you? 

Actually,  at first, I didn't want to do the film. I had my reservations. For instance, I didn’t want people calling me chitti (aunty). But the director, Sivakumar Murugesan kept chasing me to do this film. He would visit my office everyday to convince me. One day my husband, R. Sarathkumar asked Sivakumar to narrate the subject to him. After he heard the script, he came over and told me, “Radikaa, you're mad! This is such a fantastic script! Why don't you do it?" I decided to give it some thought. During this process, I remembered something Kamal Haasan had told me that stuck in my head. He told me that I should always reverse my thought process and not see myself as the character. I was watching some film of his and thought about how he reinvented himself. That is when I made up my mind. I had only one condition. I was very clear about how I wanted to look while playing my character Pavunuthayi. I wanted to look like director K. Bhagyaraj’s mother. I wanted the right kind of prosthetics. They wanted to hire a team from the US or UK . But I was not sure that someone from a foreign country would be able to get the look right. And that’s how we discovered Vinesh, who created this look for me.” On my first day of shooting, I had to walk through a large crowd and I went unrecognised. That was a major hurdle crossed. 

You broke your knee while shooting for this film…  

Yes. That happened on the second day of shooting. I cracked my knee as it could not take the weight of the prosthetics I was wearing. The whole production was held up. They said, "We will shoot something else, go to the doctor and come." When I visited the doctor, he said I required surgery followed by a three-month recovery period. I asked for a Plan B. The doctor then gave me a brace and a cryotherapy machine which I took with me to work. I was given eight painkillers, and I came back to the set. I was determined to finish this movie. After that I went in for my surgery.”

Did you realise that you were working on something magical while shooting this film?  

I am a director's actor. I don't even look at the monitor. I will check if my makeup is appropriate for my role. After that, I perform the scene. When the director says, ‘Cut’, I only look at him for approval and if he is fine, I move on to the next shot.  I had not even seen this film before its release. In fact, everyone who had seen it, was raving about it to me. My daughter says, "Ma, you're very bad at receiving compliments." I am just work-driven. That is all that matters to me.  

There is an ongoing debate across the film industry about pay parity between male and female actors. What is your opinion on this subject? 

In the case of male heroes, it does not matter how their film fares at the box office. Yet, with every flop, they only make their remuneration higher. When “Thaai Khizavi”’s script came to me and I was on board, I bluntly told the producers that I’m going to be putting in a lot of hard work for my role. So, I need to be paid well. We came to an understanding. I took a share of my collections. So, today I'm a happy person. I can laugh my way to the bank, at least.  

What is your opinion about the eight-hour shift demand by heroines which has become a controversy in the industry?  

Everybody in the industry is aware that I don’t work after 6 pm. I am very quick at my work and always deliver as per the director’s demands. I don’t make concessions even for my own productions. In fact, I remember I was working with Dr Shivarajkumar once for a home production and he kept requesting me to work an extra two hours to finish a shot. I had to remind him that I was the producer. I left as per my timing. There may be hesitation on the producers' parts, because not everyone can deliver within the stipulated hours. Sometimes, actors can take advantage of these shifts.