Sheela rues not being able to watch her old Malayalam films

Yesteryear artist Sheela, who attended the Mazhavil Chiri Awards 2023 telecast recently on Mazhavil Manorama, said the new crop of actresses are very lucky since they have a wide array of opportunities. 

According to her, actresses of her generation never even got to see the films they acted in. “None of the Malayalam films we acted in would release in Chennai. They were available only in Kerala. During those times, we would come to Kerala only to shoot one or two song sequences and fly back immediately to Chennai. I never knew how I looked or acted in films like ‘Collector Malathy’,” she said. This was when Chennai was the cradle of Malayalam cinema.

“Today, they have acting schools, modelling opportunities, photoshoots and even YouTube to learn from. They also receive immediate feedback about their acting skills,” Sheela said.

According to her, Mollywood directors would never tell artists how to act. “During our time, Tamil directors would play out the scene for the actors. However, Mollywood directors would never tell us how to act. They would tell us to do our bit and act freely,” she said. 

Sheela also said that she was stunned by the glamorous makeovers by actresses these days. “Then, we never had the opportunity to look this glamorous,” she added.