No woman should be ill-treated: Saroja Devi

She is known as Kannadathu Paingili (Kannada’s parrot) and Abhinaya Saraswati. The legendary B Saroja Devi who has acted in more than 200 films spoke to TOI from the US about the current developments in the Kannada film industry.
Excerpts:
What is your view on Darshan allegedly ill-treating his wife?
I do not know what exactly transpired. It’s between a husband and wife, a very personal domain.I do not also have all the facts of the incident to judge it. Having said that, if it is true (that Darshan has assaulted his wife), it’s unfair. No girl or woman should ever be ill-treated by anyone. That is not the spirit of dignity and respect for women. I am clear in my mind that women and men are equals.
Is the ban on Nikita justified?
The ban is wrong and unfair. Nikita was never spoken to, her version was not taken into account, no enquiry was made to ascertain truth or falsity of allegations that she was in a relationship with Darshan, there is no proof to show they were involved - then, how can anyone impose a ban on her? Nikita has been paired with many heroes and there has not been a single problem, why are they creating issues with Darshan alone?
Have you come across actors assaulting their spouses in your time?
I never ever heard of a single such incident during my acting lifetime. There may have been minor tensions or differences of opinion, which happens between every husband and wife, but they never resulted in assaults or attacks. I am too pained. I am afraid the treasure that Kannada cinema has been is being dragged to the pits with such incidents. We have had such a rich legacy, such legends, is this what we do to Kannada cinema? Is this how we treat ourselves?
What was cinema life like during your time?
We were like a family. While we were together on the film sets, we would all go out shopping and to cinemas together, we would gather for birthdays, festivals, weddings, we would share lunch on the sets and we would even stay in each other’s houses. My time was an embodiment of purity. I can’t see much of that today.
How would you compare your generation of actors with this generation?
There is no comparison. We lived with legends and virtuosity was the bedrock of our ties. I am not sure I see that today.
How were heroines treated on and off the sets in the 60s and 70s?
A heroine once suffered a wound on her leg. The hero administered first aid and bandaged her leg - that was how women were cared for. If a heroine was busy with housework or a film shoot, the hero would request the directors-producers to reschedule shooting. If a close-up of a hero was taken, a close-up of the heroine too would be taken. The films were not merely herocentric, heroines were equally applauded.
Was there a producers’ lobby and would they put pressure on heroines?
There was no lobby of any kind. There was no pressure from producers on heroines. In fact, producers would accommodate requests for reschedules, wait for them to come, consider requests for different shots of a scene. They were basically good friends. There were very great producers at that time - Nagi Reddy, Gemini Vasan, B R Pantulu, Vikram Raja... my list will never end.