Kumari Srimathi on OTT: Talluri Rameshwari opens up on comeback with Nithya Menen’s show

From making a mark in Seethamalakshmi to carving her niche in the Hindi film industry in her later years, Talluri Rameswari had a fairly eventful career in cinema for over four and a half decades and looks hungry for more at 65. After a long sabbatical, she faced the arch-lights for Teja’s Nijam, forayed into television later and made her OTT debut in Disney+ Hotstar’s Jhansi recently.

Also read: Kumari Srimathi teaser: Nithya Menen is an ambitious entrepreneur who’s reluctant to marry 

She was in Hyderabad earlier this week to promote her second Telugu web show Kumari Srimathi, directed by Gomtesh Upadhye, that premieres on Amazon Prime Video tonight. Talluri Rameswari is cast as Nithya Menen’s grandma in the show, a progressive matriarch in the house who detests her sons and is always supportive of her granddaughter’s decisions.

While stating her reason to act in the show, “If I need to be honest, a girl Sowmya had approached me for it. She’d said I would play one of the four principal characters and that it would be shot in the Godavari region. I didn’t ask for anything more, they’re taking me back to a place I love. However, it’s another discussion how I didn’t get to drink water from the river.”

“The only reason I say yes to acting offers is because I enjoy the process and like to be between people on sets. Once I get dressed for a role, I dislike going back to the caravan. One can’t be indifferent to the spirit of a project, it’s important to interact with your co-actors to ensure the right ambience during shoot and develop mutual trust,” she spoke of her approach to her roles.

“Especially for a show like this, I adored the camaraderie we shared beyond the camera and it’s that spirit that often rubs onto the screen. It was a delight to work with all actors of all age groups - from Nirupam to Nithya to Gauthami and Praneeta (Patnaik) and Mahesh. Ironically, I tried to understand the deeper layers within the role after the shoot,” the actress shared.

“If you notice the grandma’s character throughout the show, she is never idle, doing some household work during her conversations. She doesn’t like her sons, gives her daughter all the credit and is quite a selfless character. I realised her depth much later,” she added.

Rameswari had interesting response to a question where a scribes had asked her response to a situation in the show where her grand daughter starts a bar. “Be it a cigarette or alcohol, all that matters is that it’s injurious to your health. It doesn’t matter if the consumer/seller is a man/woman. Why can’t a woman start a bar? Being a woman raised in a progressive family, I wouldn’t object to it.”

Much like the show, a reporter had enquired if Talluri Rameswari tried to ask Nithya Menen about not getting married after 30. “Marriage is something very personal, I feel even parents should leave that decision to their children. My father was so ahead of his times that when my brother-in-law had asked my sister for (a love) marriage, all he had to ask was, ‘Is she ready to marry you?’”

Her father apparently joked later, “At least, my elder daughter asked for consent before her marriage. My second daughter (Rameswari) didn’t spare me that trouble. But, she too is my daughter after all and I will have to stand by her.” She revealed it was Kumari Srimathi’s writer, creator Srinivas Avasarala who suggested her name for the project and called him the true hero of the show.

Also read: Kumari Srimathi sneak-peek: Nithya Menen is determined to win back her ancestral home