Essaying a character role remains her dream

Thiruvananthapuram: Veteran actor

Sreelatha Namboothiri

, who moved with her husband to the city 15 years ago after he took up a new job, said that the warmth and love of residents has won her heart and now the Alappuzha native takes pride in being a resident of the capital.

Sreelatha, who turns 70 on Monday, will celebrate her

birthday

with the inmates of Gandhi Bhavan at Pathanapuram. “I am happy that God has given me a happy and healthy life and I will celebrate my birthday with 1,000 residents of Gandhi Bhavan,” said Sreelatha who will also receive NL Balakrishnan memorial

award

, instituted by Gandhi Bhavan, on Monday.

Loved by Keralites for her

comedy

and mother roles, Sreelatha is still busy with classical music concerts,

films

, serials and even mimicry. From Padicha kallan to the recent film Ambili, she has done roles big and small and it was music that made her a part of the showbiz.

She remembered how

KPAC

asked her to sing a song in the late 60s. “I was in Class X when I joined it as a singer. The only eligibility I had was that I had won prizes in music at school festivals. Later playwright Thoppil Bhasi made me act in a drama, Koottukudumbam. This paved the way for my acting career,” she said.

Sreelatha became known for her comedy in films. “I was featured with Adoor Bhasi in 90% of my films. One would be surprised to know that I rejected acting with him when I was approached for Viruthan Shankhu. It was the rejection of a teenager who wished to be the heroine of Prem Nazir and Satyan (laughs...). Finally, I found my place in comedy genre with Bhasi chettan as my pair,” she said.

Sreelatha reminisced that there were no young women back then to do comedy films. “Back then, along with the film plot, there will be a separate comedy track mostly written by Sashikumar or Bhasi chettan. After 10-12 film pairings, Bhasi chettan knew that I had rejected a film with him. He told me that comedy is a permanent space for an

actor

rather than the heroine and comedians can always win the audience with humorous counters,” she said.

Adoor Bhasi was a mentor who inspired her to love and respect oneself. “He was an example of dedication. Even when he was down with high fever or other ailments on film sets, he would play his role with perfection. For him, Nazir the perfect human being. When gossips were published in newspapers about me and him, I was depressed. He said that gossips reflected my popularity and I should be happy that people are noticing me,” she said.

Sreelatha has an unfulfilled dream, “I always wanted to perform some character roles, but I failed to get them,” she said.