Sumitra Kumari is a superstar in Jubilee. She has writers writing for her, filmmakers making films for her, and the masses waiting to see her on the big screen. Sumitra Kumari believes in the magic of cinema. So does Aditi Rao Hydari, who plays Sumitra in Vikramaditya Motwane’s Jubilee, which is currently being celebrated for its originality, and honesty.
We chat with her about her movies, multilingual roles, and her passion for telling stories.
Excerpts: Becoming Sumitra Kumari—who runs a studio yet is vulnerable to so many things beyond her control—how did you prepare for this part? As an actor, I like being told about every detail of the character. I enjoy my costume trails, and then I just like to be thrown onto a set to go with the flow. Especially with a good director, it is very exciting to work like that. I could connect with Sumitra’s yearning for true love. As a female actor, elements like protecting oneself or putting up a wall around us come naturally.
Visually, Vikram Sir gave me references to Maharani Gayatri Devi and Audrey Hepburn. He also made me watch Rachel Weisz in The Favourite to get that manner of looking down on people. I just follow the director’s instructions. But that quality of Sumitra protecting her fragile emotions by putting up a prickly and sarcastic exterior; and people still rooting for her, is something that has been very exciting. This character could easily have become quite unlikable.
Being a pan-Indian star has become the go-to thing for actors now. You have been working across Tamil, Telugu, Malayalam and Hindi cinema for quite some time and have delivered hits in each language…
I come from a multicultural family myself so it’s not alien to me; I enjoy it and embrace it. Many people asked me how I knew that this would eventually become a trend.
However, I didn’t do it to be part of a trend, I did it because I believed in it. Cinema is about feelings. Feelings don’t have language. I would never call Mani Ratnam a Tamil director, or even an Indian director; he is a director. Directors create a world where I can suspend my belief and completely go along with this vision and I can surrender to it. Such directors create characters that will hopefully live on in people’s hearts.
How much has changed for women actors today if one were to compare their lives to that of Sumitra Kumari? Because you had to deal with uncertainty even after being in major films in Hindi cinema, do you find that women still need to fight for their corner in cinema?
Sumitra Kumari commanded so much popularity with the masses. Films were written for her. She still had to keep fighting to be a woman superstar. That continues to be relevant for heroines even today. People might want to watch you on-screen but it doesn’t always mean that the industry will give you a chance to be on-screen.
Post Jubilee, given that you have been liked so much, what projects are you looking forward to?
I have Heeramandi coming up, with Sanjay Bhansali. I adore him and I feel very blessed to work with him for the second time around. There’s also Gandhi Talks, a silent film with Vijay Sethupathi and Arvind Swamy which is almost complete.
