Actor Sheela | Photo Credit: K. Ragesh
She ensures that her posture is right, that her pink sari looks perfect in the frame. Then her eyes meet with the camera.
He smiles. It is not difficult to understand why Sheela has been Malayalam for several decades.
No actress explained the screen as she should. Like Aishwarya Rai, it was her appearance that people focused more on. But in films like Kallichellamma, Chemmeen and Akale, she showed several wonderful performances and proved that she was much more than a pretty face.
“Kallichellamma is a personal favorite for me,” says Sheela Hindu in Kozhikode, where her paintings to support charity were exhibited. “I had to get into the skin of a village woman, a life I didn’t know about. People always talk about Chemmeen, but I feel that Kallichellamma was more demanding.”
Sheela may have become the most successful actress in Malayalam cinema, but for her it was not in the case of an increasing dream. “I became an actress, first on stage, because my mother asked me to do it because my family came across deep financial problems after my father died,” he says. “I was just 13 years old when I acted in my only game that was inaugurated with Mgrem, who liked me and plunged me into my first movie, Paasam. He was the biggest star in Tamilian, but I didn’t know who he was, so I had no nerves when I dealt with him.”
While Sheela acted in the film Tamil with Mgr, director P. Baskaran and actor Satyan from the neighboring studio, he saw her and plunged it into the Malaysian film Bhagyajathakam. “And Bhagyajathakam was released first, before Paasam,” he recalls. “So within a few months after I was seen while watching a drama, I became a star in the movies.”
“But it was because of the Council of producer P. Subramaniam of Merryland Studios that I was really acting. He told me people would watch my movies, even if I got old.
She was destined to please the Malaysal audience on the screen, with their hundreds of films and all the beautiful songs, most of which were sung by P. Susheel. “Yes, I was lucky to have listed so many great songs on the screen,” he says. “It was nice when Vayalar Ramavarma said on stage when we were present prem nah, Satyan, and I would think of his imagination if he was shot at me.
“Painting Passion”
Painting was also a passion for Sheel. “This is my third exhibition and the two were also for charity,” he says. “I have been painting since my school days.”
Baseil Joseph likes to watch the current crop of actors Sheel. “I like the way he is acting,” he says. “And he was one actor I wanted to meet, and he was glad he presented the prize.”
Published – April 16 2025 17:29
