COLUMN: Spouse's Turn
Shobha talks about life
with her actor-husband
Photo by Mithun Vinod
By Shevlin Sebastian
Shobha was in Class 8 when
he saw actor Kunjan in the film, ‘Resthouse’. “I had gone with
my classmates to see the film,” she says. In the film, Kunjan was
part of a group of college students, which included Prem Nazir, Ummer
and Adoor Bhasi. “Kunjan looked like a hippie, with his long hair
and bell-bottom pants,” she says. A few years went by. Shobha began
working as a beautician in a parlour at Kochi called 'My Fair Lady'.
Then from several
directions, she received a marriage proposal, all for the same
person. “One of my regular customers, Usha Maam, told me that there
is an actor called Kunjan,” says Shobha. “She said he is a nice
person, so why don't I marry him?”
Shobha’s mother’s
friend, Mary, stayed at Fort Kochi , near Kunjan’s family
‘tharavad’. Mary said, “Kunjan is a nice boy and has a good
character. Maybe Shobha could marry him.”
Then Shobha’s former
classmate Hazel Collis said that Kunjan was her brother Ivor’s
close friend. “He is 365 per cent a good person,” she said. “Let
him come and see you.”
Like all people, Shobha
had apprehensions about marrying somebody from the film industry.
Plus, Kunjan was not a hero and played all sorts of side roles,
wearing odd costumes. Nevertheless, an official meeting was set up.
“I was shocked when I
saw him for the first time,” says Shobha. “He was not at all like
how I had seen him in the films. He was a well-behaved person and
looked smart. Kunjan told me he was not a superstar like Mammooty or
Mohanlal. When he travelled by flight from Chennai to Kochi it was
because the producer was paying for the ticket.”
Kunjan also told her that
a film career is an uncertain one; sometimes there would be roles, at
other moments, there would be nothing. “During tough times, he told
me we would only be able to have ‘kanji’ and water,” says
Shobha. “He talked in a frank manner. I liked that about him.”
After pondering for a
while, Shobha gave her assent. They got married on April 28, 1985.
And right from the beginning, Shobha realised that her husband was
different. “Kunjan always said that there was no need to cook his
food or pack his clothes. He did it all by himself. He told me not to
wait for him if he is late from a shoot and insisted that I have my
dinner, instead of waiting to eat with him.”
And like most men, he is a
doting father to his daughters, Swetha, now married and just become
the mother of a baby boy, and Swati, doing her Plus Two in Bhavan’s
Vidya Mandir school at Girinagar. “He is not at all strict as a
father,” says Shobha. “Kunjan is very caring, a family man.”
Other qualities include
his sense of humour. “He is always cracking jokes to make me
laugh,” says Shobha. “All the women, both in the industry and
outside, love him. I am proud of that.”
Asked about his negative
traits, Shobha says, “In the earlier years, I felt that he lacked
ambition. He would not contact people and ask for roles. He says that
a role will come to you only if you are destined for it. He is very
relaxed, but I am not like that. I am very ambitious. But now, after
so many years, I am okay with his attitude.” Incidentally, so far,
Kunjan has acted in over 450 films.
Another negative point was
that he would never go for parent-teacher meetings at school. “Even
if he is at home, he would not go,” says Shobha. “Kunjan felt
that he would draw attention to himself. That was painful for me. I
wished he came along. I had so many things to handle.”
In 1985, Shobha set up a
beauty parlour, 'Live in Style', and it is still going strong. Many
celebrities are her clients. They include notables like Lissy
Priyadarshan, Manju Warrier, Sulfath Mammooty, Suchitra Mohanlal and
young heroines like Samvrutha Sunil, Reema Kallingal and Remya
Nambeesan.
Meanwhile, asked for tips
on having a long marriage, Shobha says, “You have to adjust to each
other because during a marriage there will be many difficult
moments.” She says that one of the most important duties is to love
the husband's family, as your own. “Your in-laws want your love and
affection,” she says. “One must never ignore them.”
(The New Indian Express, Kochi and Thiruvananthapuram)
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