Where family matters

He may be the ultimate angry young man from the God’s own country. But that is only when Suresh Gopi dons his greasepaint. Once the shoot winds up, or even if there are prolonged spells between two consecutive shoots, he sloughs off his angry persona and rushes home to become the familial man he actually is. “Whatever little time I get off the sets I like to spend with my family. They mean the world to me,” says Suresh.

    His earnestness to be home whenever he can is understandable. For waiting at home is his wife, Radhika, who threw away a buddin

g career as a playback singer in Malayalam cinema to keep their hearth warm. “There should be only one celebrity at home,” was her reasoning.

“Radhika,” Suresh admits, “is as good a homemaker as she was a playback singer.”  Suresh and Radhika dote on their four kids — Gokul, Bhagya, Bhaavni and Madhav. The couple’s amazing sense of understanding has contributed to the warmth of the family.

Suresh is clear that when he gets home there’d be no discussion, chats on cinema or anything to do with the film industry. “The actor in me has no room at home, I transform into a husband, father and grandson. It’s a challenge to be able to juggle quality time between cinema and personal life. In fact I must add here that, even today, all of us sleep in the same room. There’s nothing like kids in another room, that doesn’t exist for us,” Suresh Gopi tells Metrolife and adds, “when I get back home dog-tired, I have to sit with my kids in our home theatre and watch their favourite cartoon and then play shuttle. I think the kids are in a way my greatest stress-busters. They have really softened me,” says Suresh.

    Radhika too says she makes it a point to spend time with the kids. “There’s always music in the house and that really brightens the atmosphere at home. There’s never a dull moment because there’s just so much to be done and time is just not enough,” she reasons.

 About their 19-year married life, Suresh recalls that Radhika was really young. as young as 18 years, when they wed. But from day one she has been his source of strength and support.

“But for her I would have never come thus far,” says Suresh.
As for Suresh, Radhika says she admires his commitment toward his family and the tremendous time he devotes to the kids. She says he’s disciplined and a stickler for time. He likes things to be spic and span and also that they be kept back where they’ve been taken from.  “I have always taken life as it comes and my life has been very rewarding so far. I have no set plans for the future,” says Radhika.

Suresh misses spending time teaching the kids and thinks they aren’t getting enough of him. But he’s more than happy that Radhika fills in perfectly well.
 He says their children are being brought up in an ordinary setting just like any other child.

“We have always been careful on the element of material comfort we give to our kids. We groom them to slip into any situation perfectly well,” he explains. Suresh says he would like to work only to  be able to afford them the best education possible.
“I will make sure they will have everything they want but I won’t pamper them too much,” he reasons.

Radhika and Suresh don’t really spend long hours at the gym burning out calories, rather they have a well-regulated diet. Radhika swears by vegetarian food, Suresh and the kids have their dose of non-vegetarian food, albeit in restricted quantities.
Bangalore is dear to the couple. They hop into the City to meet some of their best buddies and also the fast pace excites them both.
Radhika loves to shop in Bangalore and comes often on a shopping spree.