Life’s been bizarre, says Suchitra
Her life’s been a frenzy of activity lately. It’s almost as if Suchitra Krishnamoorthi is making up for lost time. That was the time she calls her “gestation period,” when she did “nothing more than host dinner parties and look after my baby.” Today, life has come full circle for her.
After hitting the headlines with a series of sensational accusations in which she implied that actress Preity Zinta was responsible for the break-up of her marriage to director Shekhar Kapur, Suchitra is ready to move on. With several successful art shows behind her, in Delhi, Mumbai and Hyderabad, she’s now heading to Bangalore. Where does the new single mom find the time and energy to do so much?
“I have so much energy, it’s coming out in bursts,” she says. How does the self-taught artist discover her affinity for art? “I never dreamt I’d be an artist. I’ve never painted before in my life. The way it happened was so bizarre. On September 27, 2004, the last day of the Ganpati celebrations, I suddenly had this huge crying fit. I thought I was going mad, seeing colours in my head. My neighbour, an art critic, had paints and colours with her, and gave them to me. It was probably building up towards something - I didn’t know it was painting. My father, in fact, had said my name, Suchitra, means ‘beautiful painting.’ Life’s bizarre - when I talk about it, it sounds like I’m telling a story.”
Ask her about life without Shekhar, and she’s matter of fact. “For me, physically nothing has changed. Shekhar was never around to begin with, he’s around now as much or little as ever. He’s as much a part of our lives as he was before, and things will continue this way. There’s been no sudden change.” she says.
With her focus completely on art, her acting career has moved to the back- burner. “I don’t regard acting as a fulltime career. It’s something I do sporadically. When I get offers for woman-centric roles, I explore them. Like Ram Gopal Varma’s Sholay, where I play the Thakur, Mohanlal’s wife, Karma Confessions and Holi. Now I don’t have the luxury of time for a two-month outdoor schedule.”
As for singing, she says, “it’s in my blood, like breathing.” But playback singing for Hindi films doesn’t interest her, she adds. “I’m not interested in cutting an album for the sake of it. I like to be totally involved - the whole creative process fascinates me. So maybe I shouldn’t say never.”
Her ability to multi-task with such confidence, she says, comes from her academic family - historians and doctors. “I’m able to express myself so confidently and clearly because of my background. I can apply thought and bring it to fruition. That’s the discipline of an academic background.” So while the discipline keeps her focused, her drive ensures she stays committed to her new career. Suchitra’s determined to put the past behind her. “Oh yes,” she says, “I just want happy times ahead.”