She decided to become a dancer when she was just three years old. At 16, her dreams were shattered but when she was 20 years old, she made a comeback to the stage, with an artificial foot. Dancer and actor Sudha Chandran has stunned her audience with her grit and determination.
It’s impossible to miss Sudha’s go-getter attitude. The gritty lady — whose mantra is, “put your hands into anything that is impossible” — was recently in the City to perform, more than 20 years after she made her debut performance in the City. “I’m not always able to spend a definite four hours or so practising each day, since I am hardly in Mumbai. But prior to a show, a lot of practice goes in since there is much commitment,” she explains.
Currently, the actor has her plate full — so much so that she says she hardly knows where she is based right now. “I am currently busy with several shows. I will be doing a new show called Kunguma Chimez, which is a remake of Saathiya. I am also judging a reality show,” says the dancer, whose dance academy will be opening in Chennai in June. “In fact, I was offered a Kannada serial last week. But since the dates were clashing with other work, I could not take it up,” she reveals.
When it comes to her dance programmes, she says that every performance follows a different format. She is known to be a flamboyant, but Sudha shrugs off this label, saying, “I had no clue that I was.”
During her career, she has experimented with several roles. “I owe my success to my audience. My character in Nache Mayuri used to cry all the time, while Ramola Sikand in Kaahin Kissii Roz used to make everyone cry. I have dared to experiment only because my audience loves me. I am the only actress fortunate to have done well in all languages,” she proclaims.
The actor got nostalgic during her visit to Bangalore. “I’ve come here to perform after so many years. The last time I performed here was in the mid-80s after Nache Mayuri. It’s here that I started my journey,” she admits. “I love the City — it’s a nice place to chill after a hectic schedule. But now, it’s become as busy as Mumbai,” she adds.
She strongly believes that opportunity knocks only once and one shouldn’t miss it.
“God has been kind to me. At every point, I stand up and ask, what next?” she
concludes.