Unforgettable encounter - Samvritha sunil

Samvritha Sunil talks about a chance encounter with Kozhikode Santha Devi at a venue of the IFFK.

Photo: Rakesh 
 
Bridging generations: Kozhikode Santha Devi and Samvritha Sunil.

Life is studded with personal milestones. First day of class. First relationship. First job. First viewing of ‘Cinema Paradiso’ … Whether sweeping or intimate, milestones all have more or less the same effect down the road; changing some aspect of the way you look at the world around you. One such epiphany, the last of many to take place during the 13th International Film Festival of Kerala, was a chance meeting with veteran actor Kozhikode Santha Devi.

I was about to leave after the screening of ‘Thirakkatha’ when some of my friends working in a committee for IFFK called me for a quick get-together. I dropped into Kairali Theatre and saw an informal gathering around Santha Devi who had come to meet the Chairman of Kerala State Chalachitra Academy, K.R. Mohanan. I joined the group. But she did not recognise me though we had worked together in ‘Nottam.’

Inspiration

Great conversationalist and actor, she was responding to a volley of questions regarding her life and work. Episodes of an artistic life unfolded before us. Sepia-tinted memories of struggles in her personal and professional lives poured in – of tragedies in the family, of being taken for granted. Miniscule or no compensation, minimal recognitions, thankless and unsupportive families – yet 50 years of hard work and still continuing in full fervour. I was amazed at the way it was presented..., the way with which she transformed her woes into mockery.

That indeed was an overdose of inspiration.

She reminisced about her association with M.T. Vasudevan Nair, Baburaj and her husband, singer Kozhikode Abdul Khader. After two hours of infotainment, I left the place and later found out from friends about the agonising climax of her visit to the IFFK. As a gesture of their affection for the veteran actor, some of the IFFK volunteers collected money to give her. However, she left the venue before they could do it. They eventually gathered from the Chairman that she had landed there to borrow some money since she did not have the money to travel back home.

Now, as I slip into my everyday routine, the verses she recited keeps echoing in me… ‘Mannilulla kannunerin choodariyamo, Maanavante nenjilezhum novariyamo, Veenadinja ponkinavin kathayariyamo, Paalarnoren aathma gaanam, Njan maathramanipol mookam...’ (‘Nee endhu araiyuunuun neela thareamenin’ composed by P. Bhaskaran, tuned by Baburaj and sung by Kozhikode Abdul Khader). The evocative lines spoke about the pain of rejection, of alienation and of fallen dreams and loneliness.

Now, I realise that the overwhelming feeling I got when I recall those lines and the meeting, was my notions of life being forcibly, brutally enlarged.

Veteran of many stages

Kozhikode Santha Devi is a national award winning actor. Starting off in 1950, she acted in more than 450 films in supporting roles. She has worked with veterans like K.T. Mohammed, Thikkodiyan, T. Damodaran, and M.T Vasudevan Nair. She was married to the late Kozhikode Abdul Khader, a singer.

Santha Devi was awarded the life time achievement award of Kerala Sangeeta Nataka Award in 2005.

She still continues to work in films and television.