Doing meaningful cinema

Dressed in a crisp white saree, Tara still looks stunning. Life has changed a lot since she won the National Award for her brilliant performance in Girish Kasaravalli’s Haseena. She played the role of a Muslim woman who is scared of her husband and society but can go to any extent for her children.

“Haseena gave me nation-wide recognition. Every actor performs so that their hard work is recognised and a National Award is definitely a big recognition,” said Tara, adding “it was after a gap of 37 years that the Kannada film industry bagged a National Award and it made me even more excited."

Films have been a part of her life since childhood. Her parents were not in the industry but she had relatives who were producers and  involved in other aspects of movie making. “Films came automatically to me as I was a child artiste as well. My interest lies in doing meaningful cinema and I have so far done many such movies,” she said.

Speaking about her recent movies she said that she has done an offbeat film called Prashne which is the story of a village woman who gets cheated by a bank with regard to a loan. “This movie was not released commercially as no bank would fund us,” she joked. “I’m also doing another movie called Yaksha which is Yogi’s home production,” she added.

 “I have tried my hand at production in the movie Haseena and now I'm looking forward to directing a movie. It is a lot of responsibility,” she said.

When asked if she would write her autobiography she answered, “I maintain a diary. I’m sure if all the pages are compiled then it will become an autobiography automatically.”

Tara has also ventured into television with a show on Kasturi channel called Idu yaaru bareda katheyo, a programme which deals with people's problems as well as social issues.

“In the beginning we wanted to restrict it to pure social issues but more than 60 per cent of the cases we got dealt with bigamy and domestic violence,” she said. “While there is no way to solve such grave problems in one hour, I try my best to give practical solutions,” she added.

“Television is now an important medium and it definitely grabs more attention than movies. One has to go to the theatre to watch a film but television is at home and since power lies with the viewer, it is essential to air sensible programmes. I am enjoying my stint with television,” she said in parting.