After having interviewed some snobbish monosyllabic celebrities, talking to Sudha Chandran comes as such a pleasant experience. No, she doesn’t pepper it with the vicious seething one-liners of her immensely popular small screen character- the all caked up, decked up villainous schemer par excellence Ramola Sikand from Kahin Kissi Roz; instead hers is a friendly bubbly conversation full of zest and contentment.

Sudha talks about her life and career without holding back anything. What impresses me most is her bright and sunny happy-go-lucky attitude. For a person who lost a leg in an accident and had to make do with an artificial Jaipur foot; for an actress who after an impressive film debut had to wait in wilderness for such a long period- Sudha never shows any rancor and bitterness. Such a contrast from typical cribbing crybabies of showbiz who specialize in lamenting about their so-called lost opportunities! No wonder, she has turned around her acting fortunes in such dramatic fashion and has emerged as one of the biggest names in Indian television. She is a fighter- and a champion!

Here are the excerpts from the interview:

On her “Never Say Die’’ attitude:

After my accident and amputation, I could have wallowed in self- sympathy and depression but instead I chose to fight it out. I could see that my parents were crushed in spirit, seeing their only young daughter lose a leg; thinking it was all over for me. I wanted to achieve something which would make them proud. Instead of just accepting this accident as my fate, I tried to rewrite my fortune by working my heart out.

On Naache Mayuri – her debut film:

After recuperating from my accident, I went to Vyluur Murugan temple near Trichi to offer a classical dance recital as homage. Luckily Madras Doordarshan crew shot that recital and aired my interview. Producer Ramoji Rao was impressed with my life-story and offered me my first film Mayuri in Tamil. It was remade as Naache Mayuri in Hindi and was a stupendous success.

On her subsequent failure in Hindi films:

Initial success had come easy to me but then, I did not manage my career well. The latter films with Bhabhi- Bahen kind of roles didn’t click. During that period, I did a few films in South, which did reasonably<