Nimmy met Sally again, after four decades. Yes, we mean the protagonists played by actors Shari and Karthika in 'Deshadanakkili Karayarilla,' helmed by late P Padmarajan. It was an emotional moment for both as Shari got down from her car at Karthika’s home in Thiruvananthapuram. The warmth of their hug exuded the bonding between the actors, akin to the characters they represented in the iconic Padmarajan movie.
'Deshadanakkili Karayarilla' was released in 1986. But the shooting of the movie took place two years ahead of the release date. P Padmarajan’s widow Radhalakshmy was also witness to this unique meeting. 'Deshadanakkili Karayarilla' portrayed the life of two students who escape from the confines of a boarding school into the vast world. Shari even had the picture of both the actors in school uniform. Karthika had just completed her first film and was reluctant to take up another assignment, she said. “But Padmarajan sir himself came home and convinced my parents,” she said. She remembers that the power had gone off while they were discussing about the movie with Padmarajan. “But just in a matter of seconds, the power had returned and I had taken my decision by then,” Karthika reminisced.
It was a split-second decision, she said. Shari, meanwhile, said she was overwhelmed when Padmarajan offered her the role. Shari's anxiety doubled when she heard that she would be playing the role of a protagonist. “I got Karthika as a friend from then on,” Shari laughed.
Karthika got her takes right immediately. But when Shari fumbled many times, camera man Venu used to say 'the wicket is about to fall,' Shari recollected the incidents in between shooting. Radhalakshmy said Shari was given the name Nimmy in the movie by Padmarajan himself. But it was Radhalakshmy who suggested Shari for the female lead role in 'Namukku Parakkan Munthiri Thoppukal.'