‘Every industry taught me something’: Veteran actor Sarada looks back at a life in cinema

Sarada talks about her life in cinema with the ease that comes from having lived it for a long time. Memories surface without fuss, moving between people, films and moments that shaped her career. When she speaks about being selected for the JC Daniel Award for Lifetime Contribution to Malayalam cinema, her response is simple, almost understated. “What can I say? I consider this a true blessing,” she says, adding that she feels grateful to be counted among those who came before her, people she still refers to as the pillars of Malayalam cinema.

At 80, she is aware of what the award represents, especially as someone who did not grow up in Kerala or speak Malayalam fluently when she first arrived. That distance, however, never kept her from reshaping how women were seen on the Malayalam screen. Over six decades, Sarada became one of the most versatile actors Indian cinema has produced, moving between industries, languages and performance styles. It is a journey she looks back on not with pride alone, but with a steady sense of thankfulness.

Born Saraswathi Devi on June 25, 1945, in Tenali village in Andhra Pradesh, she credits her mother for setting her on this path. Her early training in Bharatanatyam, she says, gave her discipline and an understanding of rhythm, both of which stayed with her long after she moved away from dance-heavy roles. Her mother, Sarada believes, recognised something in her long before cinema did.

Her first significant role came with the Akkineni Nageswara Rao-starrer 'Iddaru Mitrulu' (1961), a film that changed the direction of her career. What followed was a steady rise, marked by a string of films that showcased a side of her audiences often forget today. In 'Aatma Bandhuvu', 'Tobuttuvulu' and 'Murali Krishna', Sarada appeared in light-hearted, often comic roles, leaning into timing and movement rather than emotional restraint. It was a phase that allowed her to explore ease and humour, qualities that would later be overshadowed by her reputation for tragedy.

As opportunities expanded, so did her geography. Sarada entered Tamil cinema with 'Kunkhumam' (1963), acting opposite Sivaji Ganesan, and made her Kannada debut with 'Valmiki' (1963), starring Rajkumar. Each industry, she says, had its own grammar. She learned to listen, to observe, and to adapt. That ability would become central to her longevity.

Malayalam cinema entered her life in 1965 with 'Inapravukal', directed by Kunchacko of Udaya Studios. Sharing screen space with Sathyan and Prem Nazir, Sarada stepped into an industry that would ultimately define her legacy. At just 23, she won the National Film Award for Best Actress for 'Thulabharam', becoming the first actor to bring the honour to Malayalam cinema. The role, steeped in the socio-political realities of Kerala, also gave rise to an image that followed her for decades. She became the 'Dukha Puthri', the face of sorrow, endurance and quiet suffering.

From the 1960s through the next two decades, Sarada shaped the emotional language of Malayalam cinema’s women. Her performances in films like 'Murappennu', 'Mooladhanam', 'Thriveri' and 'Oru Minnaminunginte Nurunguvettam' were marked by restraint rather than excess, by suggestion rather than display. National recognition followed again with 'Swayamvaram' and later with the Telugu film 'Nimajjanam', bringing her total National Film Awards for Best Actress to three.

Yet Sarada resists being defined only by grief. While Malayalam cinema repeatedly returned to her ability to embody pain, other industries offered different textures. Telugu films, she notes, allowed more movement, more dance, and more humour, particularly in later roles such as mothers and mothers-in-law. Comedy, for her, was not an escape from seriousness but another way of understanding human behaviour. Each industry, she says, taught her something new, and she carries those lessons without ranking one above the other.

She acted in over 125 Malayalam films, including 'Yakshi', 'Adimakal', 'Asuravithu', 'Koottukudumbam', 'Nadhi', 'Ennippadikal', 'Elippathayam' and 'Rappakal'. From the 1990s onwards, her appearances became rare, but they carried weight. In 'Mazhathullikkilukkam', she played an elderly woman with quiet dignity, while 'Rappakal' remains especially close to her heart.

When the film comes up in conversation, Sarada does something unexpected. She softly hums a line from “Thangamanassu Amma Manassu”, the song that defined her character in the film. The gesture is instinctive, unperformed. The music, it seems, has not left her. The role of the widowed mother, and her bond with Mammootty’s character, remains one of the performances audiences continue to associate with her long after the film’s release.

She also made a strong impression in Jayaraj’s 'Naayika', portraying a former Malayalam cinema heroine with quiet dignity, and her final Malayalam appearance came in 'Ammakkoru Tharattu' (2015). In 2019, she became the first Malayalam actress to be honoured with a retrospective at the International Film Festival of Kerala.

As she looks back now, Sarada speaks of the people she shared the screen with. “Only a few of my contemporaries like Madhu sir and AVM Rajan are still around,” she says, the statement carrying more weight than sentiment. The films, the characters and the music remain, living on in memory and on screen.

The JC Daniel Award recognises a career that cannot be contained within a single language or image. Sarada’s legacy lies not just in the sorrow she portrayed so memorably, but in her ability to move across worlds, adapting, learning and enduring, much like the women she so often brought to life.