Versatile actress Jayasudha completes 40 years of her film career today. Known for her recent performances in "Adhinayakudu",“Bommarillu”, “Kotha Bangaru Lokam”, “Amma Nanna O Tamil Ammayi”, “Parugu” and “Solo”, the actress has completed more than 225 films till date.
On July 21, 1972 she made her debut in “Pandanti Kapuram”, produced by veteran actor Krishna and directed by Lakshmi Deepak. The film was a major blockbuster putting Jauasudha in the limelight. Slowly and steadily she shifted to other South Indian movies of which “Arangetram”, a Tamil film opposite Kamal Haasan in the direction of K Balachander was her best.
“It was a long journey. The full credit goes to my aunt Vijayanirmala, who introduced me to the industry with “Pandanti Kapuram.” I'm grateful that I got a chance to work with good directors in my initial stage,” recalls Jayasudha.
Not many know that her original name is Sujatha and that the actress cannot read Telugu although she speaks fluently. “Scriptwriters never translated my dialogues. They would read my lines twice or thrice and I would deliver the same,” she says. Jayasudha has been given the title ‘Sahaja Nati’ meaning ‘lively actress.’ In the year 1975, the film “Jyothi” sky-rocketed Jayasudha's career, making her a household name. “I got my first Nandi award for this film,” she says. “I’m lucky that all my characters have been strong, emotional and performance-oriented.”
The actress has acted with all the leading actors of her time, including NT Rama Rao, Nageswara Rao, Sobhan Babu, Krishna, Krishnam Raju and Chandra Mohan.
“At that time there was a big competition between me, Jayaprada and Sridevi. We ruled the Telugu film industry for almost two decades,” she says. Jayasudha adds that today both are her good friends and the competition they had was very healthy.
“When I ventured into politics I wanted to give up my film career, but soon reality struck. After joining politics I realised that I wanted to continue films,” she says. Even today audiences vouch for her performances.
“I still get offers but I need to strike a fine balance between politics and films. My next movie “Seethamma Vakitlo Sirimalle Chettu” will be one of my best performances.”
share