Standing by the canteen of the Kairali Theatre in Thiruvananthapuram, Beena R Chandran greeted the viewers of her film Thadavu with a perpetual smile, wondering every time someone appreciated her if her performance was really all that good. The film was screened at the International Film Festival of Kerala (IFFK) last December. “I could not gauge my own performance when I watched the film, even though I was more than thrilled with what the others did. I had picked some of them, as casting director of the film,” Beena told TNM in an interview.
Eight months later, on Friday August 16, she was announced winner of the Kerala State Award for Best Actor (Female) for her lead role in Thadavu, along with renowned actor Urvashi, who won it for Ullozhukku. “I am still in the same state as I was in December, unable to believe what is going on. I can’t be sure if this is a dream or reality. I am also very happy to get it with Urvashi, an actor I have always admired for her innocent and effortless performances, an actor who can make you laugh easily,” Beena says.
Thadavu is not Beena’s debut film but it is her first as the lead character. She is enchanting as Geetha, the difficult woman who gets carried away by her emotions, who loves and hates in equal measure and expresses it all. TNM’s review of the film said: “Beena R Chandran, playing Geetha, should have been discovered a long time ago. With her uninhibited movements (she swims effortlessly in her saris) and reflective expressions, Beena makes Geetha so close to life, she seems like someone in your own circle of friends and family.”
Beena plays an anganwadi teacher who has had two failed marriages and two daughters. She lives alone in an old house, occasionally enjoying the company of her two friends – Uma (Anitha) and Hamsa (Subramaniam). Fazil Razak, the director of the film, appears to have inadvertently borrowed segments from Beena’s life. She too is a school teacher and the friends in the film are her real life friends.
When the state awards were announced on August 16, Beena was teaching a class at the CEUP school in Palakkad’s Parathur. It was her friend Anitha (who played her friend in Thadavu too) who dragged her out of class by noon to wait together for the results. When her name was announced, the students broke into applause, celebrating their dear teacher, asking if she would continue to teach them.
Beena loves teaching as much as she does acting. She has been a theatre actor for over 40 years now, active since she was a lower primary student in Parathur. Her village, she says, has a lot to do with it, a place that is full of arts and activities. Growing up, Beena studied botany for her Masters but she loves to teach language, she says. She teaches English and Malayalam for students of Class 5 and 7, and uses theatre as a tool.
“Anitha and I run a children’s theatre in school. We make scripts out of the syllabus and all the kids are given opportunities to perform on stage. It has a big impact,” Beena says.
Beena, who has been part of several theatre troupes, and also does amateur theatre, performed her solo drama even on the evening after the awards were announced. “It was my ninth performance of Otta Njaval Maram and at the high school that I went to – Parathur HS. I could not stay away from theatre, which is what brought me all this,” she says.
She acted in a film for the first time in 2008, for MG Sasi’s Adayalangal. She also became part of director Sudevan’s acclaimed works like Thattumporathappan and Crime No:89.
Beena met Fazil, the director of Thadavu, five years ago. Fazil cast her in his short films Athiru and Pira before offering her the lead role in Thadavu. “I was very apprehensive about playing the role as it was the central character, and if the film has to do well, I should perform well. It was also a very challenging role. The one month rehearsal that Fazil arranged for us helped. I was determined that aspects of theatre should not seep into my performance. I was also particular that I should be unique, not copy another actor.”
Only when the film premiered at the Mumbai International Film Festival (MAMI) last year and received good reviews was Beena convinced that she had not let down the director or the film.