Srividya | My Favourites from Malayalam Films | Part 1

Srividya in Udaya’s Thumbolarcha

Srividya’s acting career, both in Tamil and in Malayalam, along with the two Hindi productions she acted in (AVM‘s Jaise ko Taisa/1973 and Hrishida‘s Arjun Pandit/ 1976 ) can only be termed the most diverse range an actor could ever get, across two languages.It had to be her sheer talent, an enviable mix of beauty, brains, grace and finesse that also had her genes to thank for, but let’s face it, no one had ever put it to good use like she did. And she was automatically on the radar of all the top film makers of the times as she was just starting up, imagine collaborating with Balachander on one side of the border and with A Vincent on the other !

Srividya | A natural, accomplished vocalist

Music flowed in her veins. Then again, so did dance and emoting, when you think about it. She was steeped in the music, surrounded by it, right from the time she was born, as MLV’s daughter.

Srividya | The Danseuse onscreen

If you have been lucky enough to watch the early films of Srividya, be it Tamil, Malayalam or Telugu, you would recall the amazement at watching this new graceful, lithe dancer with wide, expressive eyes and a smile that lit up the room in the movie’s dance performances. Srividya was a born performer – be it dancing, singing or acting under the arc lights. Her passion for dance was fueled by the singular aspect of having India’s most famous proponents of dance, onscreen and off-screen, the Travancore sisters as her next-door neighbor in Chennai.

Srividya in Apoorva Raagangal (1975) | A Unique Evolution

I have been told to lay off the adjectives for this one. But when the subject is Vidyamma, it is a tough task for me. So forgive me if a couple do manage to creep in.

Srividya | Actor, Singer, Danseuse and Beauty that defined a Generation

Rights : Mathrubhumi

There is a quote  attributed to James Dean on acting that goes, “An actor must interpret life, and in order to do so must be willing to accept all the experiences life has to offer. In fact, he must seek out more of life than life puts at his feet. In the short span of his lifetime, an actor must learn all there is to know, experience all there is to experience, or approach that state as closely as possible. He must be superhuman in his efforts to store away in the core of his subconscious everything that he might be called upon to use in the expression of his art. ” Forget the gender – if there is one face on the celluloid screen that has even traversed way beyond the ‘experiences of life’ that James Dean so profoundly mentions in the journey of an actor,  it has to be Srividya.

Born on 24 July, 1953 in Chennai, Srividya ( whom her mother wanted to name Meenakshi ) was an accomplished dancer and a singer even before she found comfort under the arc lights. Her biggest source of encouragement was her grandfather Vidwan Ayyasamy Iyer, who had already discovered the amazing, latent talent in his 3-year old grand daughter who could distinguish raagas at such a tender age.

Kaalangalil Aval Vasantham | A Tribute to Srividya

[ Originally written for Dhool and published on 27 October, 2006 by Saravanan.N.It has been reposted here with his permission. Personally, the best tribute EVER written for Srividya and her contribution to Tamil films ]

So fades a summer cloud away;
So sinks the gale when storms are o’er;
So gently shuts the eye of day;
So dies a wave along the shore….

- Anna Letitia Barbauld (The Death of the Virtuous)

Remembering Srividya

Srividya in Thumbolarcha

Its been 5 years since her passing.

I don’t think there will be another actress in Malayalam cinema who has spoken a whole lot more than what the script meant or put down in words, with a pair of eyes as Srividya.