Child artist to judging child artists

Sridevi Vijayakumar, a Charming actress who captured millions of hearts from the 2000’s is re-appearing in television as one of the judges of “Drama Juniors Season 6” reality show. In an exclusive conversation with Hans India, Sridevi shares about her journey and memories. Let’s have a look into it.

Speaking about her entry into films, Sridevi says, “My entire family is in the film industry, so my entry into films was not unexpected. I’ve been acting since the age of five, first in a Tamil movie “Rickshaw Mama” in 1992 and since then I kept on acting as a child artist and gradually became a heroine.”

Speaking about her break in film industry, the actress says, “‘Eeswar’ was my first movie in Telugu, with Prabhas as the lead. I’ve done movies in Telugu, Tamil and Kannada languages. I married and settled down, but I continued doing films, a telugu film ‘Veera’ with Raviteja as a lead. I took a break after having my daughter, and did not do any films.”

“I personally never felt the disunion from the industry and the concept of re-entry, as I’ve always been connected some way or the other, I was part of the industry all this time”, she expressed when asked about resuming the acting.

While explaining her recent shift to Television shows she said, “I feel really good working in it, as it now has more connection with people. Almost everyone has a TV at home. I’m delighted doing these reality shows by encouraging talent.”

This child-artist turned actress describes her working with children, “I’m really shocked by the talent these kids possess. I have worked in films since age five but it’s totally different from performing live. We have dialogues, can take cutshots and retakes, but these kids, barring all of that, are giving impressive performances. I’m always amazed by their hard working spirit, they remember long dialogues effortlessly, I agree that the generation has changed tremendously.”

“Parents play an important role, they are very encouraging. A lot of effort is put in. Kids’ shows are different as the energy levels are high throughout the day. In Fact we have to learn a lot from them”, she added.

Talking about the co-actors, who developed into pan India stars,” I’m very happy for them and we are still friends. The behaviour hasn’t changed since day one from the shoot till now. It’s been nearly more than two decades but there isn’t a slightest change in their attitude, they are down to earth. It has become part of the journey,” she said nostalgically.

The memories of working in Hyderabad, she says, “Even before my acting career, due to my parents’ movies, we used to travel from Chennai to Hyderabad frequently. There was a strong family bond with all the senior actors of the Industry.”

“Regarding my childhood acting, I still wonder how I did that. Working on dubbing acting has a significant place in my heart. All the memories are still fresh in my mind. As a kid, I was pampered by everyone throughout the shoot, so shooting used to be so much fun”, she recollected.

As a descendant of legendary actors, Vijayakumar and Manjula, she shared the experience of being a star actor’s kid. “I learnt a lot from them. It’s in the blood,” she says smilingly.

“People will recognise you immediately during shoots and you’ll have extra attention, that’s obvious. Initially mom used to come along with me for my shoot. But it was so difficult acting in front of her even though she was giving her inputs.” she said. When asked about the guidance from the family she said, “No one told me or forced me to act in a particular way. As they have emerged from their own struggles, they always gave me the liberty to act at my discretion. They emphasize “It’s your life - You face the world - You struggle.” They leave me for all my individual decisions. I do get comments for my betterment only after the film is screened and not while doing it,” she stated gladly. “I am truly blessed with my family. My husband Rahul never compels me to do a particular thing. He respects my decision. My daughter Ruthika has turned 6 this year, so now I can work. I get wonderful support from both my family and in-laws. This part of my life is completely different and I’m very happy for my family”, she expressed.

Sharing her emotions regarding working in the show, she says, “I feel really blessed to be part of this show. I’m sitting with senior actors Babu Mohan garu and Jayapradha garu. I’ve always known them, they are friends of my parents, so it was not at all new. I feel very comfortable and happy with them, in fact they still consider and treat me as a child, which overwhelms me with happiness. It’s my first time working with Zee Telugu. I loved the ambience and the production house. I’m hoping this show will be a success because kids shows have more potential to reach.” she stated.

Answering about her future plans and works, she indicated that we can see her in forthcoming movies or web series. She didn’t give much details but has clarified that she’ll be working in Television and Silver Screen again.