Madhoo Shah is back as Queen Sambhavija in a TV show, a role which is very different from her real-life persona
Remember actress Madhoo who caught the national imagination as the vivacious and innocent Roja girlIJ And who, after a brief Bollywood spike, just as swiftly receded into the recesses for domestic blissIJ But as they say you can never keep an innate artiste down. And so it is that Madhoo, who was away for a long break, is back on the small screen.
Shah will be playing the role of Queen Sambhavija in TV’s larger-than-life drama Aarambh, which has been penned by the writer of the much-acclaimed Baahubali and which talks about the clash of the Indus and Dravidian civilisations. Having tested waters with television in an earlier drama called Mann Mein Vishwass Hai, Shah says she immediately accepted the offer of Aarambh because it came from its director and industry stalwart Goldie Behl. “He called me up and I just heard two lines. He said it was a very powerful role of a queen. And I just felt I should do it. It was an intuitive decision. Apart from the role, I know what kind of a filmmaker and visualiser Goldie is and the way he directs a story,” she said.
Though Shah has usually portrayed soft-hearted characters, this time around she will be playing a ruthless warrior with clever tricks and wisdom that help her unite a matriarchal society. “In reality, I’m not this kind of a person who yells and gets angry. People know me to be a very kind and gentle person. Though the temperament of the character is different, I’m portraying it by using my internal strength. I feel I am a strong person internally and this kind of role gives me the opportunity to show it outwardly. I don’t have to put any effort to fit into the character. It feels like I’m just me,” said Shah on her similarity and disparity with the character.
Shah doesn’t think it is unusual to sign a television drama. She said, “No filmmaker has come with a role which was tempting enough for me to accept. When Goldie called me I never looked at it as a television project because the people associated with Aarambh are from the movies. I never think about the medium, especially in today’s flat world where consumption of art can be on any platform. The role I’m playing is larger than life and the time they are spending on me feels like that I’m doing a mega movie.”
Shah has even worked in an online series. She feels if she had restricted herself to one platform to exhibit her art, then she would still be waiting for a chance. “Recently, I’ve shot a short film Sab Thik Hai which has just released and I got this chance as the viewership across platforms has opened up many media. If it was just movies or TV, people like me would not have got an opportunity. Moreover, every medium is merging with one another. I’m enjoying this intersection,” she said.
Shah was extremely popular in Tamil cinema but she was equally fluent in other languages. Shah’s main concern since her childhood was her education. Recollecting her memories, she said, “I come from a very intellectual Tamil family. My parents wanted me to become either a doctor or an engineer, so they always told me to focus on studies. But gradually I made them understand my interest was in acting.”
Shah stated that while working in mainstream Hindi cinema, she was always recognised as a good artist. “Though I didn’t get the kind of roles in Hindi films as I did in Tamil because at that time the industry was dominated by action movies and male actors. On the other hand, in Tollywood the script was made keeping me in mind. Had I stayed on in Bollywood till 2000, I would have got some unique subjects to work on when the industry changed with the advent of Karan Johar and Adita Chopra,” said she. On her short Bollywood journey, Shah has no regrets. “Thanks to the Mani Ratnam movie, I came to be known as the Roja girl. The movie has kept me alive among the audience even after 25 years.” If there’s anything that she missed, it was working with Shah Rukh Khan. “He is my all-time favourite.”
Shah’s philosophy of life is “It is what it is”. living in the moment rather than thinking about the past or the future. In that space, she blooms fully as an artiste.