Actress Kaviyoor Ponnamma aka Ponnamma aunty, whom I call Ponnus, was also on the set and as we had worked together before in films like Nandanam, knew each other very well. I remember giving a hug to Ponnamma aunty, and wished Lalitha chechi too. Then, she asked me, ‘Are you on the set today without taking a shower, in the morning?’ I said, ‘No, I have.’ She didn’t agree and said, ‘From your hair it is evident that you haven’t. This is what the kids of these times are like.’
Though she was just trying to pull my leg, I was on the verge of breaking into tears. Then, Ponnamma aunty said, ‘Oh please keep quiet, don’t make her sad,’ but Lalitha aunty kept teasing me, making comments like ‘This girl doesn’t look that great, does she?’ I began crying, and eventually she just gave me a kiss and hug saying Thamaasha paranjathalledi (I was just kidding). And over time, we became very close!
We shared the same birth star, Chithira, and so, used to share everything with each other. I don’t know how many movies we have done together. But, when I was preparing to shoot for my comeback film Oruthee, it’s me who suggested Lalitha aunty’s name for my mother’s character. There are many artistes for such roles now, but I felt she would be the right fit.
She has been unwell for a long time now. Whenever I used to see her on the sets after briefly getting better, I used to ask in jest, ‘So you are back after the servicing?’ But, after she was hospitalized, I couldn’t meet her or get her on the phone, as there are many pandemic-induced restrictions in place now. I still had requested Siddhu chettan (Lalitha’s son Siddharth) to connect her to me whenever possible, but before it happened, she left us. Thanks to the almighty, she didn’t have to go through a bedridden phase in her life.
– As told to Deepa Soman
