The Ramya Krishnan&nbsp;interview

Anu, I did that too – I felt through that screen with my mouse, clicking hopefully.

LikeLiked by 1 person

Vidhya M

Ramchander Krishna (@ramctheatheist)

Wow. As tamil magazines would say : Thamizh thirai ulaga markandeyi nadigai (roughly translated Ever youth Ever green heroine)

LikeLike

Nice one! This is the first interview of Ramya Krishnan I’m watching 🙂

Padayappa is one of those Rajini films I’m slightly embarrassed of. Placing Nilambari and Kannagi side by side will be a great way to study Tamil society. She says in the interview that Nilambari was seen as a vamp then but a strong woman now. But, the sad truth is that her character is still seen as a vamp by many.

And it’s hilarious to imagine the moment of her Amman film and a glamorous Chiranjeevi one releasing at the same time in the same complex! Welcome to India with its glorious diversity!

LikeLiked by 1 person

blurb

video is up no?

LikeLike

Jetlaged

why is she looking tense and nervous?

LikeLiked by 1 person

Mary Kutty

Don’t think there will be an actress as attractive as Ramya Krishnan to me. Seeing her in Aham (old Mohanlal movie) and Aryan (a creepy and bad Priyadarshan movie) was an awakening. Glad she has managed to hold on in an industry which treats women as absolutely dispensable the moment they age. I really didn’t like her in Baahubali but have to admit that she brought the necessary presence and gravitas to the character.

Looking forward to watching this.

LikeLike

Maybe she’s wondering like the politics comment, now which comment is going to be twisted out of context?

LikeLike

Anu Warrier

Thanks, blurb. 🙂

BR, I wish you’d continued with the dubbing question, instead of immediately cutting in with the next one on your list.

LikeLike

I totally agree with Ramya Krishnan. It was from the “killing the traitor with baby in hand scene” which really hooked me into the Baahubali movie and franchise. Also everytime I see the proclamation of “Mahendra Baahubali” in the trailer, I get goosebumps… Ultimately it was her own voice that gave that shot that gravitas. Speaking of Aham (old malayalam movie)… I watched it after Padayappa and her dubbing sounded absolutely hilarious in that movie. KS Ravikumar sir did a great favour to movies by deciding to keep her voice as is.

Speaking of Padayappa, the first time I saw the movie I couldn’t sleep that night, maybe because it is the first time I am seeing a “strong” female character in tamil cinema… Ofcourse she was shown as arrogant and spoilt and her character was mostly used as a commentary of the prevailing political system. But the one constant thought that was occupying me was what a positive impact can be made by a woman with this confidence, assertiveness, pride! (minus the arrogance ofcourse… There is a very thin line between pride and arrogance and for many this distinction doesn’t even exist when it is related to a woman. Everything is arrogance, everything is thimiru, head weight!)

Also I’ve always felt if anybody else could do justice to Nagavalli in Manichithrathazhu (Chandramukhi), it was definitely Ramya Krishnan… Not Vidya Balan and definitely not Jyothika

LikeLiked by 1 person

Jamuna

I am ashamed as a woman that Neelambari is considered strong woman. Embarrassing to hear that during Bahubali promotions. You can hide behind Vasu and KS Ravikumar, Mr. Rajinikanth, we know who you are. MCP.

LikeLike

sanjana

I think it is Ramya Krishna. Not Ramya Krishnan. Ramya married somoone called Pasupuleti Krishna.

LikeLike

@Jyoti, i could kill P Vasu for touching Manichitrathazhu and making it such a comedy in other languages. Ramya and Radhika are like real rajmatas of the SIFM

LikeLiked by 1 person

Honest Raj (formerly 'V'enkatesh)

sanjana: Nope, Krishnan is probably her father’s name. ‘Ramya Krishnan’ has been her screen name in Tamil ever since her Paddikathavan (Rajini starrer) days.

LikeLiked by 1 person

Ha ha Naveen: I almost got into a rant on Chandramukhi, then I thought why go off on another tangent and deleted the comment.

LikeLiked by 1 person

Anon

I’ve never watched Padayappa in its entirety but have watched various scenes from the movie. I’m appalled each time that a grown man would continue to spout that same misogynistic shit from eighties to the nineties to the oughties. Zero growth as a person. What an idiot! Poor Ramya, fearing for her life.

LikeLiked by 1 person

GODZ

Neelambari…It’s really laughable to say that she is a Strong and confident woman. What Kind of “Confident” Woman would lock herself in a room for 15 plus years?

Is it not a Busted Life? And No Confident Woman would say those horrible Dialogues to endorse the “Manliness” of Rajni..”Padayaippane maari oru aambaliye…”..I guess We audience have done huge karma to see and hear Crap like this…But what’s up with these dialogue writers who frequently want to Reaffirm Rajnis Testosterone-dependent Abilities?

But Having said that..IF NTR is Devudu, Ramya Krishna is Ammoru. Currently, No Actress in Indian Cinema (Except Rekha) could have done the Role of Devesena with such Command and Respect. Just Compare her performance with that caricature of a Female Rebel by Tammanah!!

LikeLiked by 1 person

Pavan

Neelambari’s character is assessed in two ways: Group I and II. Group I says: “Neelambari is a strong willed, sexy, independent and powerful woman who would never tolerate any injustice towards her, even if it is by her own people. Remember the scene where she scolds her brother at his quickly-arranged wedding? Rajinikanth, like many times, plays a misogynist here and puts her at the ‘place she deserves’ which is under his feet. Now how long will woman continue to suffer in films? Why should a man reject her advances? Do they know its value? And just see who is Neelambari’s ‘competitor’: a dumb naive belle who was always playing her cards well silently. She did breach her. Not just she, everyone did. Neelambari got a tragic end, but the way she was treated is far more tragic. We are with you, girl. Today’s generation will see no Padayappa demeaning Neelambari, but the reverse. Yes, that will happen for sure. This is a new dawn.”

Group II says: “Neelambari is an archetype of antagonists. This character never had any proper justification why she behaves that way. We strongly feel this when we see Padayappa in exact contrast. Both hail from rich families, are equally educated, surely intelligent and frank speakers. Yet, the audience watch Padayappa’s shining white and only black in Neelambari. No place for grey shades. Now, we get the another heroine played by Soundarya (wish I remember the character’s name). She is so dumb and our hero is equally dumb to find her divine and Neelambari sexy. Really? Yes she is dumb and Neelambari is a scumbag. And Padayappa is white and white (I mean it guys, he gets the same wardrobe for fixed later). With characters that have no actual human tendencies, but portrayal of incomplete archetypes, this film is a bloated mess. Add to it the soap opera filmmaking. This isn’t for someone like me, an evolved audience.”

I belong to the third group, the one whom all hate but is surely the best of all. Yes, I am a Rajinikanth fan. I have a clarity compared to Group I and II on what this film is about and to whom it caters. Why going full on rants if you fail to understand a film’s grammar? The intentions were very clear: it is a conversation between the actor and his fans. The misogyny was a recall of our star’s villains, the dumb love track and comedy was a reminder of our star’s comedy timing KB explored, the star-isms is a result of what we loved in him. It is a reflection of his long career that gets recalled in a landmark film. Heck why one needs a Sivaji Ganesan for a character which a junior artist would do? Yes, it is a celebration of the Rajini-myth. It is a recap of the actor’s journey, his roles, his films and yes the intentions.

Decide yourself, whether you are in Group I, II, or the clear Rajini fans. BTW, great interview Rangan. Looking forward to more such where the questions have some value unlike the too-formal-to-be-amused ones. 🙂

LikeLike

Madan

“You can hide behind Vasu and KS Ravikumar, Mr. Rajinikanth, we know who you are. MCP.” – It’s not just Rajini though. It’s Ajith too. Hardly gave any role to speak of to Shruti Haasan in Vethalam. Made his leading star wife sit at home. It’s the Tamil film industry in short and exceptions like Kamal only prove the rule. It’s easily the single most disgusting aspect about Tamil films for me, the way they think women are still meant to be relegated to eye candy.

LikeLiked by 3 people

shaviswa

I watched Padayappa for Neelambari. That was one powerful performance. Somehow I thought she owned the climax by killing herself rather than apologize to Padayappa. That made her character stand much taller than Rajini’s. I am not sure Rajini realized the impact during the story telling sessions. He may not have agreed had he guessed.

This was a great interview actually. Very engaging – despite her nervousness – and she came across very honest.

LikeLiked by 1 person

Dracarys

@jyoti s Kumar, regd P.Vasu’s remakes, I guess you haven’t seen Soundarya in Kannada movie Aaptamitra. Anyways Jyotika’s role in Tamil version was really ‘eye-popping’!😂

LikeLike

The Ghost Who Walks

@Sanjana

I think she was billed as Ramya Krishna in telugu movies she acted in. I think a slight modification from her actual name. As it turned out, she got married to a Telugu director with the Krishna in his name (Krishna Vamsy). But she has been billed as Ramya Krishna for as long as i remember.

LikeLiked by 1 person

all tamil films ( during certain decades ) with big stars were designed to cater to the lowest/cheap demands of the public in order to make money. does not matter it is A, B, C or D as hero. the heroines had to be a certain way ( dressing, dancing, characters ). the directors thought the average movie goers wanted to see their heroes and heroines. they were just being focused on what sold. KS Ravikumar, Sundar c, P Vasu all rode that way and made masala. our heroes were not made on sane and fair movies, rome was build on blood.

those elements are the same in the star movies now too. most of Vijay, Ajith, Rajini movies ( except kabali ) are the same KSRavikumar masala at heart. many of these are super hits which means there is a good audience which demands these and gets it too.
Ramya Krishnan did not have much choice in order to sustain in a glamor driven heroine world

LikeLike

The Ghost Who Walks

@Pavan

The intentions were very clear: it is a conversation between the actor and his fans.

As is every single movie Rajnikanth has acted in a long time now. Padayappa is no different from say, Sivaji or Chandramukhi in that sense. I don’t think any one sees these films as anything else.

The misogyny was a recall of our star’s villains,
Nope. I don’t believe for a second that the movie was that self-aware. There was misogyny because either it was a part of the ethos of the writer/director or it was felt as a good way to elevate the ‘heroism’ of the star by feeding on the existing patriarchal views of the society.

LikeLiked by 4 people

Anu Warrier

Made his leading star wife sit at home.

I don’t know about the rest, but Shalini sitting at home had nothing to do with Ajith. She had been working since she was 3, and was tired of it herself, and only wanted, according to her, to be able to live her own life. She hated the arc lights. (She had been pushed into films by her parents – she’s often spoken about a missed childhood.)

Much like Neetu Singh, who decided when she was 23 or something and at the height of her career that she’d much rather be Rishi’s wife than go back to the studios.

LikeLiked by 1 person

Madan

@ Anu Warrier: If that is so, then I take that back. In any case, there are other examples like Jyothika (who has returned to acting since) so I only wanted to make a general point and not specific to Ajith.

LikeLike

Dracarys: No I’ve not watched it, though I am aware of a Kannada version.

LikeLike

Aditi

“Made his leading star wife sit at home.”

I think statements like this are dangerous (although I get that they are coming from a place of concern), because they completely remove the sense of agency from the woman. An independent, free-thinking individual cannot be assumed to “be made” to do something.

LikeLiked by 1 person

Honest Raj (formerly 'V'enkatesh)

The question about actresses playing mothers was cliched to the core. 🙂 I liked her response though. But then, this was equally true for male actors of the bygone era. Take Major Sundarrajan for instance – he played the father/uncle figure in several of MGR/Sivaji films. This despite the fact that he was good enough to be MGR’s son in real life. Sathyaraj played the father of Rajini and S. Ve. Shekhar in Mr. Bharath; he was about four years younger than both of them. Ditto with Radha Ravi who played Sarath Babu’s father in Annamalai. I’m not sure if Vijayakumar has a count of the number times he’s played father to Rajini, Kamal, Vijayakanth, Sathyaraj, Sarath Kumar, Prabhu, Karthik, et al.,

For women, have a look at the transition:

MGR/Sivaji era – Many of MGR’s screen mothers were young enough to be his daughters. Sivaji was slightly better though – Pandaribai, his first heroine, played his mother in Deiva Magan. She was also the first heroine of Rajkumar, and would play his mother in many of his later films.

Rajini/Kamal era – Lakshmi, Srividya, Sujatha, all more or less belong to the same age group as both.

VIjay/Ajith – The aforementioned actresses also played mothers to Vijay and Ajith. I cannot think of a single Vijay/Ajith film where the mother character was portrayed by an actress who belonged to their generation.

Even in the case of Ramya Krishnan, she’s at least 13 years older than Prabhas. This is more or less similar to the Dhanush/Saranya case.

Don’t you think there has been a marked improvement? 🙂

LikeLiked by 1 person

Sifter

She comes across as very real. Her nervousness kinda made it so.

Well, she may not consider herself as a strong woman, but her voice has a power. When she makes those ‘proclamations,’ there is an X factor to that voice that turns you into a believer! Can’t believe that her voice was not suitable for dubbing once. Head to desk.

LikeLike

brangan

Honest Raj: cliched questions are never the problem. Cliched answers are. It’s not a creativity contest where you are given points for the most breathtakingly original questions. You have to ask what you want to if you think there’s a possibility of an interesting answer. Had the answer been a cliche as well, we would have edited it out.

LikeLike

Honest Raj, Simran played Surya’s mother in Varanam 1000. and I think Kausalya played sister to Vijay after having been his herione earlier. Chaya Singh plays Dhanush’s DIL in Pwer Pandai, in a different way. i feel bad when very talented artistes are made to play dumb mom roles like when Revathy is booked to play a textbook mom role. Radhika is playing very interesting roles in the mom world – naanum rowdy dhaan, dharma durai etc were great. Saranya plays herself too often, maybe directors give only that instruction. ultimately a film is a director’s child primarily and they are responsible for it

LikeLike

sanjana

The stylish, goodlooking and young mother to heroes who are almost her age. Reema Lagoo transformed the image of mothers.

LikeLike

Bharath Vijayakumar

Naveen : ‘Chaya Singh plays Dhanush’s DIL in Pwer Pandai, in a different way’

I think this is an unfair comparison. In that case Revathy played Dhanush’s pair in a different way in the same film 🙂

LikeLike

down south, i think KPAC Lalitha is the best close to reality reel life mom seen off late. sugumari and KPAC were great in that area. closure to reality came probably due to their being in the malayalam industry. Jayasudha in telugu was a supermom in reel life too. there is another lady ( with a beautiful smile and a glowing face ) i see very often in tamil and telugu who handles this role very gracefully ( the mom in Duet ). she plays conventional sacrificing mom along the dots perfectly too. Saranya P would have been hailed as the next Mother India had some of her work been in Hindi ( thenmerku paruva kaatru, dhavamai dhavamirundhu, emton magan etc ).she was very good in OK OK too and VIP too.

thanks to the above moms i think SIFM provided more tolerable reel life moms compared to bollywood’s caricature of mom roles ( either the bhadjatiya types or the johar/chopra types ). i am surprised even Aamir could not bring out a single memorable mother character,

LikeLike

Rahul

I chuckled at how BR put the question of colleagues in Hindi cinema in terms of co-stars and she instinctively answered in terms of directors ! Also, very much liked her clarity of thought about what signifies a strong woman.

By the way, this is the first BR video interview that I have seen – have to catch up on the others. I like how BR has a set of questions and does not go much off script. This keeps his interactions to the minimum and the star gets the maximum footage; unlike some “star” interviewers who interject randomly and go on and on – it is irritating.

LikeLiked by 3 people

Madan

Re posting the comment now in the right thread:

@ Aditi Oh, I am aware that some women willingly choose to stay at home, even if in fact their husband would rather they work. My friend’s wife is a CA. She could make a few grand just sitting at home certifying documents and she is not interested. At the same time, when I say ‘made to’ it doesn’t mean that I think the man coerced the woman into staying at home. If the woman badly wants to marry him, she may compromise on her career. But a man’s expectation that ‘after marriage you should stay at home’ is fundamentally unfair. I don’t say force your wife to work but if you put a pre condition she may well buy peace by compromising. I read an interview of Shalini just after she announced she was quitting films and she said she saw the man as the breadwinner of the family and thought the idea of a house husband baloney (though she didn’t use that word). I am saying she was already very comfortable with the patriarchal mindset. So even free will may be influenced by social conditioning.

LikeLike

praneshp

Honest Raj: Suriya/Simran, if he is in that generation.

LikeLike

Honest Raj (formerly 'V'enkatesh)

BR: The best thing about Dravid, S Waugh and Gavaskar is that they hit sixes only when they’re least expected to do so. 🙂 Back to the point, I understand all this has more to do with FC. Maybe, I was expecting a lot after the Mani Ratnam interview.

Naveen: Simran’s role in VA was pretty much acceptable because she also played Surya’s wife in the film. As for Kausalya, her role in Thirumalai was more like a younger sister to Vijay’s. Frankly, this character can only be portrayed by a female actor, no?

LikeLike

Honest Raj (formerly 'V'enkatesh)

Had Padayappa been originally made in Telugu, it would’ve probably ended in one of the two ways:

A: Soundarya saves Ramya from the bull by sacrificing her own life. She pleads the latter to marry her husband on the basis that only she can be an ideal replacement for her and blesses both of them after reaching the heaven.

B: Ramya recognises her own “faults” after being saved by Rajini. The kindhearted Soundarya generously shares her vaazhkai with Ramya. Shubham

LikeLike

Madhav

Ramya Krishnan is a powerhouse and got an amazing screen presence, which is what I love most about her. She may be a great actress too but Shobabana and Revathi are the greatest actresses ever for me. (KPAC Lalitha and Sreevidya would also be there).

And saw someone mention about Aryan, an old malayalam movie. It may not be amongst the most remembered/celebrated movies of Priyadarsan, but it’s certainly aint a bad movie, instead it’s an Excellent movie (ofcourse I understand no movie is liked by 100% people, still ) which was a huge hit when it released few decades back and still very much watchable/liked even after all these years. And the actors too were brilliant.

LikeLike

Jayashree

Sir, thank you for this interview. I enjoyed viewing it. I really like your style of interviews. You have this innocent as a cat air about yourself and are unobtrusive. Ramya Krishnan was a revelation in this interview. I always thought she was like Neelambari in real life too(her voice and attitude). To my surprise she is a pleasant person and has no airs. Her answers were frank and sincere. Look forward to more such interviews by you Sir. It is a treat.

LikeLike

Ramya was rarely/never offered good non-glam roles in Tamil. not sure about telugu. I can recollect only Julie Ganapathy, but it had another powerhouse in Saritha as well. Ramya was gr8 in Pancha thanthiram, in a role nobody could have fit in. she was quite good in the middle class budget movie ( buget padmanabhan ? ). quite sincere in it. well we have a prequel book on Sivagami and hope she plays when it gets made into movie

LikeLike

Pavan

@Honest Raj (formerly ‘V’enkatesh):

If Padayappa was made that way in Telugu, no doubt it would have bitten the dust. Taking pleasure in single-mindedly abusing Telugu cinema is no sin. But it isn’t wise either. An Indian frog of any state cannot tolerate hot water, can it? Some call that self-respect. Some call it survival. Either way, the hot waters end up being the wicked. Just like those lines of ridicule.

LikeLiked by 2 people

praneshp

@Honest Raj: For Telugu (B) you’re channeling too much K Balachander.

LikeLike

Honest Raj (formerly 'V'enkatesh)

Pavan: Wait. Consider Poovizhi Vaasaliley, the Tamil remake of a Malayalam film starring Mammootty. The hero in the original version dies in the end while attempting to save the kid from the villain. In the Tamil version, he ends up in jail for apparently killing the villain. In Telugu, he is not just exempted from imprisonment but also ends up shaking his legs with the kid’s aunt. Can you see the difference? Now, take Mannan. The Kannada original and the Tamil versions were at least self-aware that the film was going to be problematic; which is why you have a “Amma sentiment” song in the beginning. This was purposefully done to appease the “thaaikulams”. The equivalent one in the Telugu remake was “Bangaru Kodipeta”! And, consider the scene where the Vijayashanti character slaps Rajini. In Kannada the way in which it was filmed was a bit amateurish, while in Telugu it was hilarious; in Laadla it was equally good (bad?). I don’t know, but a comparison of this particular scene in Tamil with the rest made P. Vasu seem like an auteur. 🙂

All that said, I’m not defending Tamil cinema/culture either because all this essentially boils down to the “Indian” thing. But my biggest grouse is that when people, especially the Tamil brethren who absolutely have zero knowledge on the pre-2010s Telugu films, strongly defend such horrible masala flicks when the Tamil equivalents aren’t as bad as the former. I mean, this is perhaps the only place where a Mahendran film would be labelled a “misogynist” one and a Rudhraiah’s (he’s a Telugu btw) be called “racist”. 😛 I thought Tamil cinema didn’t deserve both for a good reason.

P. S. Self-respect is a “self” thing – it doesn’t arise out of one’s love for nation, race, culture, et al, At least, I don’t see it that way.

LikeLike

Honest Raj (formerly 'V'enkatesh)

praneshp: Ha, KB evolved over time. Sindhu Bhairavi is an exception though!

LikeLiked by 1 person

Kay

Seeing this interview and even while watching the movie I just had one question in my mind. Why, Ramya, why did you have to do a serial like Vamsam?! I wish you had asked that BR.

LikeLiked by 4 people

Kay

Ramya Krishnan’s voice made a huge difference to the Rajmata character. I watched the movies in Tamil, Telugu and Hindi, of which someone else has dubbed for her in Hindi, and I just couldn’t feel the gambeeram in Hindi. When she says ‘Mahendra Bahubali vaazha vendum’ just before she plunges into the water gave me goosebumps. Same was the case where she declares Amarendra is dead in B2. In Tamil it was like taking a sledgehammer to the stomach.

LikeLiked by 3 people

"Original" venkatesh)

May 21, 2017

To me , Ramya Krishnan is one of those artistes who straddles the world between performance and glam easily and naturally.

Given Indian cinema this is a huge asset.
May her ilk live long and prosper 🙂

LikeLike