Director Sukumar praises his daughter for her performance in her upcoming film Gandhi Tatha Chettu. Sukumar’s wife Tabitha gets emotional seeing her acting in this film
suresh kavirayani
Top director Sukumar is a very proud father today. It is not that he delivered a blockbuster hit ‘Pushpa 2’, but it is about his daughter Sukruti. Sukumar and his wife Tabitha got emotional on Thursday evening at the promotion of the film ‘Gandhi Tatha Chettu’. Sukriti plays the main lead in this film as the story revolves around a tree, grandfather and Gandhi played by Sukriti.
“Though I did many films, but when my daughter is calling someone as amma and anna, I was a bit emotional,” said Sukumar about his daughter Sukriti. The director said that he never took his children to the shooting of his films. “Because, if they come, I can’t concentrate on the shoot. So they never come. My daughter Sukriti wanted to be a singer and she is learning music. She never discussed acting. But when I saw this film, I was shocked to see her performance. Even though she didn’t say anything about the film, her performance in this film is amazing,” praised Sukumar about his daughter.
Padmavati Malladi is the director of this film, while Mythri Movie Makers and Sukumar Writings are producing it. Sukumar praises the director for coming up with a story that gets everyone emotional. “When Padmavati messaged me about her story and wanted to take Sukruti as the lead, I told my daughter about it. She initially said ‘no’, but later she wanted to talk to Padmavati. I don’t know what she told my daughter, but she agreed to do this film,” said Sukumar.
The director said that he spent months to rope in artists. “For ‘Rangasthalam’ I took nearly eight months to get the artists and for ‘Pushpa 2’ also the same. I expect my artistes to be versatile, but Sukriti surprised me with her performance in this film,” said Sukumar.
“I have always believed that those who are good at narration can execute good films without fail,” said Sukumar about director Padmavati. He added that she narrated the story in a very good way. He also gave an example of his own experience. “When I narrated ‘Arya’ script to Chiranjeevi, Allu Aravind asked him if an inexperienced person like me would be able to execute the project. Chiranjeevi told him that I will direct it efficiently because my narration was effective,” recalls Sukumar.
Sukumar said that he provides entertainment and that is his message. “But if entertainment is matched with a message, it’s a bonus. That’s why I am jealous of those who have made ‘Gandhi Tatha Chettu’,” he said. He added that this film should do well for two people and those are producer Sindhu and director Padmavati.
Sukumar’s wife Tabitha Sukumar said that she is also not confident about her daughter’s acting skills. She said director Padmavati believes in her daughter Sukriti’s acting skills. Tabitha turned emotional talking about her daughter’s journey as she shaved her head for this film. “Generally teens didn’t accept to shave their head and my daughter did it when she was thirteen,” said an emotional Tabitha. Actually, the director auditioned hundreds of kids for this role, but no one agreed to shave their head. But when they approached Sukriti, she agreed to do it.
The film has already been screened at several international film festivals, winning multiple awards. Sukriti Veni also received the Best Child Artiste award for her performance. The film is releasing on January 24.
