The ultimate pair

Up close and personal

He’s the ultimate gregarious star of the Kannada cinema and she’s touted to be fount of all his effervescence. Married for 18 years, Sumalatha and Ambareesh are still among the most sought after couples of Sandalwood in Bangalore’s party circuits.

Ambareesh and Sumalatha both have their own lives. He has his politics; she, her social circuit and occasional acting forays. They say understanding has brought them this far. “It’s been a great experience all the way,” beams Ambareesh.

When this reporter wanted to board an auto and asked to be taken to Ambareesh’s house in another part of the City, not less than five drivers offered to take her. They all seemed excited at the very mention of his name. Such is the mass appeal and hero worship Ambareesh commands in the City and across Karnataka.

Then why did he lose in the recent Lok Sabha elections?  “Winning and losing is part of the game. I lost by a small margin. Anything could be the reason. I am not bogged down by that, I’ll continue to work for the people and do my bit for them,” he says.

"Ambareesh is selfless and not ambitious at all. I’ve never known him to be power hungry and manipulative,” Sumalatha pitches in.

But the defeat does not mean the “rebel star” will twinkle again in Sandalwood.

Sumalatha says his age and health may not permit him to act in films full time but if he gets a strong role and a powerful character he may still act once in a while.

“I got into films all by chance. Now it’s time for me to divert my energies to other things such as social service,” Ambareesh says.

Sumalatha too chooses to shoot for just two films a year considering that her family and son take more priority. “I don’t want to lose touch with the silver screen. But I am taking it slow,” she says. She says she will act in Kannada and occasionally in Telugu films.

It was a Kannada film New Delhi in which Ambareesh and Sumalatha acted, that first brought them together. They fell in love at a time when there were no cellphones or even the Internet. 

“We used to meet only on the sets, and off and on during shoots. It was not love at first sight. We were colleagues first and then friends; then things began to change,” says Sumalatha.

She says that she admires his extrovert nature. He can make friends with just about anybody, anywhere. “His simple nature and straightforward attitude has taught me a lot. He is extremely short-tempered but when he gives vent to all his feelings, he’s calm and I must say he never nurtures anger which is a great quality,” she says and adds, “when he’s on the sets, he treats everybody with equal respect. Everybody, right from the top star down to the light boy can come and have a chat with him.”

Ambareesh thinks she is among the most well-informed women he’s come across. She manages the family, her son’s education and plans well in advance for any event, be it a party or even a pooja. “She’s the family’s guardian angel. Her sense of independence is surely enviable,” he says.

What do the couple do in their spare time? Ambareesh says he plays golf and Sumalatha moves around with her circle of friends.

Do they adhere to a strict food regime? “Ambareesh loves typical South Indian food,” Sumalatha says, but she’s a wee bit more adventurous, “I am a continental food person and I must say I love chaats. I am easy on food,” she adds. And, are they travel freaks? “We never ever plan a holiday because it never works for us that way. Our trips are all spontaneous,” says Sumalatha. 

Their son Abhishek is now 17 years old and is doing his II PU at Christ University. Sumalatha says that she always made sure he was brought up like any other ordinary child. “I always insisted that he go by the school van and it was not until a parent-teacher meeting that the school came to know that he was our son,” she says. She wants to give him the best of education and later she says he can take a call on what he wants to do. “Abhishek watches a lot his father’s movies and I think he’s a little possessive about me,” says Sumalatha with a twinkle in her eye.