Veteran actress Santhakumari blames rumours on health for lack of offers

Veteran actress Santhakumari, who has worked in over 250 films, revealed that no one offers her roles anymore as there are rumours spreading about her health.

“Someone has been spreading rumours that I am recovering after heart surgery. So, no one is calling me for any roles. I didn’t know that this was happening,” says the actress in a candid chat with Manorama Online.

The actress says she has not been offered any role for nearly five years. “I was jobless for almost five years. I didn’t have any income. A few production controllers used to give me food. They have been doing this for the past 13 years. I was staying in a hostel in Ernakulam for 13 years. Dileep later tracked me. Now I am alright as I have a house now,” says Santhakumari.

Meanwhile, actress Pauly Valsan too opened up about the false reports about her health that nearly affected her livelihood. “I received burn wounds when my legs got in close contact with a silencer of a bike. This was during 'Dakini' film shoot. My doctor said it would take at least two months to recover. It was around this time that I got the award. In train, I had to spread my legs on the seat. After returning from the awards ceremony, I immediately got admitted to the hospital. No one offered me any roles after that. One day, when I attended a movie promotion event at Lulu Mall, I took the stage and told everyone I was fine and could continue working. The event was attended by several production controllers. I told them I am perfectly alright and that they could call me for films. “I myself corrected all the rumours that were spreading about me,” says Pauly.

The actress said that she doesn’t have too many work opportunities now even though she had played mother roles lots of times. “Now, I don’t have too much work. No one needs mothers anymore. I wonder whether the characters were born via test tube. It’s been three months since I did a movie. No one needs us! Earlier, movies were written where mothers essayed central roles. Now, there are no mothers. Even though I got good appreciation for my role in ‘Appan’ I am not getting any movies. I am mostly offered small roles. I haven’t been able to get a good role since sometime. I have done amazing roles in theatre. But, I have become almost jobless in movies. I am not someone who approaches or calls people. They will call me if there is a role that suits me. I don't want roles in every film, but I just hope more good characters are created,” smiles Pauly, who was part of Jude Anthany Joseph's film '2018: Everyone is a Hero'.

Actress Omana Ouseph too said that she doesn’t get many work opportunities. “I do not have work. I had done lots of movies in the beginning. I feel sad thinking about it. Now mother and father characters are rare in movies these days. A movie could be made with just the hero, heroine and a few friends. So, ‘fathers’ and ‘mothers’ have become jobless,” said Omana.