Srivathsan Nadadhur
The supporting actors in a film are often its unsung heroes, those who lay a foundation for the story to be told, but hardly get credit for the same. It’s a selfless job, but they are not the ones to complain. While several lead actors get an entire film to prove their worth, have a proper character arc to deliver the goods, character artistes can hardly afford such a luxury. The challenge for that actor yet remains to create an impact within that minimal duration and be hopeful to receive good work later. Padmajaa Lanka’s career graph is a true testimony to her persistence and effort with her craft, reinventing herself over the years with a slew of popular web projects and films like Pelli Choopulu, Arjun Reddy, Rangasthalam, Hushaaru, Run and Sin. Klapboardpost.com makes an attempt to capture her life before films and how she carved her niche in the industry.
Of a childhood minus the love for movies
I never dreamt of becoming an actor. I barely watched movies – there was no fetish, craze about the film world at all. In one rare instance, I remember crying and protesting in front of my parents when I wasn’t allowed to watch a movie when I was about 6 or 7 years old. My parents used to go for late-night shows, putting me to sleep early before 9 pm and leaving for the theatre. There was a reasonable age gap between me and my sister and she was old enough to understand. One day just as they were heading to the theatre, I woke up and threw a fit and started crying. Even in the later years, my dad never let us watch movies much or read magazines, one reason I never had that interest in them. We weren’t allowed to watch social films and only one mythological film a year happened after the annual exams. I was attracted to dance always though, my parents put me into Kuchipudi dance classes early and I went onto give a few stage performances as well.
Some dreams, marriage and a brief working stint
I wanted to become a lecturer but somehow didn’t get to pursue it. I had to discontinue my post-graduation in Botany. I got married all of a sudden after my graduation ended and left for Bombay. After marriage, my husband had advised me to do my MBA in HR, it was called ‘Personal Management’ back then and I ended up getting a PG Diploma from Bombay. My husband, a naval officer, got posted in Bombay. I worked for a while in Polychem industries. I couldn’t go on for long in that field owing to frequent transfers for my husband. It was difficult to pursue a career in one arena. I was a homemaker for some time, had two children. Though I wanted to work again, I was clear I didn’t want a 9 am to 5 pm job, leaving my kids with a nanny. I did a correspondence course in Montessori training when I was in Pune – this came in handy while we shifted to Delhi. I started teaching preprimary children. We moved to Vizag soon, the school atmosphere was vastly different from my experience in Delhi and I preferred to stay at home.
No conflict between career and family
I was never an ambitious, career-oriented woman. Home was my first priority, I found joy in staying with my children, my family, keeping my house spick and span. No matter what you say, the house gets neglected as you work. However, I am not judging any other working woman. There were moments I felt bored at home, frustrated that I was doing nothing. I still enjoyed focusing on my children, but there were mixed thoughts. That’s how most homemakers feel I guess. I used to teach Vedic maths, dance whenever possible. By the time I begin setting up something, there used to be a transfer. Whatever I did was for naval children within the campus. The situation is similar for several naval families.
The enriching experience of being in a naval family
The best part of being in a naval family is getting to travel to different places and exploring different cultures. You get a lot of exposure to different food habits, traditions and start enjoying it. In the defence sector, wherever we go, we have a little cocoon and are self-sufficient with our infrastructure, leading a secure life. I know several languages though I may not be able to speak all of them fluently. I know how people from a particular place behave. Gujaratis, for instance, are very enterprising, courteous and treat their guests very well. We had seen the 2001 earthquake in Bhuj, we slept in the open with a one-year-old baby in my hand when the temperatures dropped to 3 degrees.
Delhites tend to be rude, not bothered. There was an instance where a stranger had knocked on the door of my house; he came at the wrong address and I directed him to the right location. My maid was flabbergasted with me that I had opened the door of my house to talk to a stranger and told me that Delhites communicate only through windows to such people. While we were in Ooty, we used to go on long drives to places that weren’t touristy and were secluded and calm, spreading our mats and chatting away. These are experiences I cherish, made me confident and these wouldn’t have happened to us had we stuck to one place all our lives. I have seen so much and these are good memories now. I have shifted houses with two little children when my husband was away. I hardly watched television, did my yoga, gymming and was involved in several association activities too.
No nerves on the sets
While all my experiences made me a better actor, my dancing background was of great help. Everyone gets camera conscious as they enter a set for the first time; I never had that fear. Even when I saw the biggest of stars in the industry, I was never nervous. I was used to interacting with different kinds of people, I even conversed on a one-to-one basis with Azim Premji, dined with a former Indian President, all thanks to the navy. I wasn’t awestruck by anyone.
First brush with the movies
I had no intention to be in the movies. I only added my family and people who were my naval friends on social media. Later I knew that one among them was a film director working in Hyderabad. He was making a film and wanted me to be part of it. I rejected the offer straight away. Gradually the bug had bitten me, I began thinking about it though the film shoot was done by then. I still wanted to give a shot at it. My husband had quit his navy job in 2011 and I knew he could be there to manage home in need. Family support was immense. A publicity designer acquaintance helped me land a role in a Telugu film, but informed they may not be able to pay me. I didn’t mind that.
My first ever film to have released was Yamini Chandrasekhar, while Chemistry was the first project I had worked for. It was a very small budgeted movie. I never witnessed a shoot till then and spent an entire day on the set to understand the atmosphere before I gave my first shot. I couldn’t understand certain terms like profile, suggestion shots. When they told me to get ready for a suggestion shot, I started touching up. My colleague had to tell me that my face wouldn’t be seen in such a shot and I didn’t have to do that. I was that ignorant. It was all on-the-job training. I had to work on my Telugu all over again.
The advantage of starting an acting career late
With age comes maturity and it ensured that I remained aware in an industry where there’s cut-throat competition and people may not always be genuine or straightforward. My world prior to films was everything but for that. I was able to handle situations well with my exposure to different kinds of people. I have a good reputation in the industry for being a thorough professional and even if anyone of my colleagues tries to snub me, I can still ignore it and continue to do my job.
A cinematographer friend of mine once introduced me to a star director, whom I am a big fan of. The director had promised a character and even explained my role. As I entered the sets in a high-end car and did my makeup, everyone used to give me strange glances. The heroine was an Indian-origin South African girl, she only knew English and we began interacting and I bade my time on the sets. Whenever I asked the co-director about my sequence, he kept giving excuses. The shoot happened for four days, I never got any lines and on the final day, I was told that veteran actor Chalapathi Rao had already spoken my dialogues. It took me time to understand that I was used as a junior artiste. Though they paid me well, I was taken for granted. It pinches me to think of it even now, but I have no hard feelings. As a youngster, I may not have handled this well.
Finding work through social media
After my first film Chemistry happened, I kept adding mutual friends from the industry on social media. A crew member working for Yevade Subramanyam had left behind a message on my timeline to meet them at the Vyjayanthi Movies office. It was like a visiting card for me in the industry. Even Zanjeer happened that way. Film offers came very easily to me through social media.
The flipside is that there are many fakes in the digital space who portray as if they are someone big and take advantage of the situation. It was tough to differentiate between fake and different people. My gut instinct helped me know if the person was genuine or not. I almost fell for an imposter one day who claimed himself to be a producer. The office was in the basement of an apartment complex, it was a shady, dingy place. People were staring at me and this person was enquiring me about my whereabouts, background. I was extremely uncomfortable, I made an excuse to get out of the place somehow and realised how foolish I was.
Getting a major break
I used to visit a lot of production offices. Many people helped me with timely information. I was lucky to have friends who were quick to tell me whenever a new film had begun and the team wanted actors. I am thankful to all of them. They used to pass numbers. The film industry isn’t as bad as the people make it out to be. It all depends on the way you carry yourself. It’s how I got Pelli Choopulu as well.
I was called to shoot for a TVC, produced by Tharun Bhascker’s Vinoothna Geetha by a social media acquaintance, where I shot along with Priyadarshi and Shalini Vadnikatti. Tharun’s wife and stylist Latha spoke to me about a small film (Pelli Choopulu) they were doing and asked me to give an audition at their office on a given day. Tharun liked it and I loved the team and their enthusiasm from day one. They were clear that they may not be able to pay me much, but they were so professional that they gave me the entire script to read before I decide to do the film. My remuneration was the cost for the flights from Bengaluru to Hyderabad and vice versa. They paid me enough to do that and I didn’t want to become a burden on my husband either. The rest was history and there was no looking back.
Another major breakthrough came in the form of Arjun Reddy. Someone from the director’s team who worked on Yevade Subrahmanyam was part of Arjun Reddy as well and he suddenly gave me a call and asked me to come to a particular location. I didn’t exactly recollect seeing him then, but I still went to the location. Sandeep Reddy Vanga gave me a brief narration. They were shooting on a shoestring budget but I didn’t have to think much to say yes. Thankfully, I got to meet good teams one after the other. The on-set vibe is the most important thing for me, later comes the character; the remuneration is among the last few aspects I discuss.
Challenges of being a supporting actor
A character artiste’s role is never about the screen time, it is about the impact it creates. It is all about writing. You can be there only for two minutes and still leave a mark. In Soggade Chinni Nayana, I hardly had a half a minute role which was catchy, but a lot of people still liked me in it. Anasuya liked what I did in those few seconds more than my performances in Pelli Choopulu and Arjun Reddy. I was surprised to hear that. I give all the credit to the writer and the director.
There have been instances where I wasn’t even told clearly about the shot till the last minute and the cues went wrong. The director felt I was insignificant and didn’t care to explain the scene. Everything boils down to the way one briefs you about the character. For instance, in Arjun Reddy, I wasn’t given any dialogues. There was a monologue after I slap the girl (which was later trimmed) and I was asked to react as if my daughter was in place of the girl. It was actually very satisfying. They trusted me to deliver it and even if it was a small role, it gave me that satisfaction. Of late, web series too offer reasonably meaty roles for character artistes far better than the films. The mother role gets due recognition. The payments are lesser, but they happen on time. When the role is good, I may not be as demanding in terms of remuneration. However, when some people refer to me as a lucky mascot and still give a not-so-great role, I at least ask for the payment to be good. It’s just about being practical.
Turning a new leaf
I have readied a script for a short film and some established directors have already liked it. Some big names are slated to be a part of the technical team including the cinematographer and editor. I was supposed to shoot in April, but it was indefinitely postponed owing to the pandemic. It’s going to be on a sensational topic. In the month of May, People Media Factory had announced a short film contest, where one should make a short film lasting five minutes at best, to be shot strictly following lockdown rules. I wanted to test myself and made two short films completely at home. I sent one of them for the contest and it was shortlisted in the penultimate round and we’re waiting for the results. For another script that’s ready, I am planning to develop into a web series. It may not happen immediately, but I am confident that people will be interested.
On the safety of shooting during lockdown with regulations
I have decided not to shoot for any films as of now. What if we start shooting with a limited crew and someone suddenly starts developing fever later? We are not left with any choice but to halt the shoot. A couple of television actors have already tested positive after commencing shoot. Some of them had stayed completely in Ramoji Film City during the lockdown. Film shoots are the last place we can think of social distancing or wear masks. Instead of going for shoots, it’s better to take care of our own people. I have been trying to help my touch-up boy and one of his counterparts from the industry.
