COLUMN: Spouse’s Turn
Selma talks about life with noted film director KG George
Photo by Manu R. Mavelil
By Shevlin Sebastian
After Selma completed her four-year course in Carnatic music from the RLV College
of Music and Fine Arts, at Tripunithara, her father, the famed singer, Pappukutty Bhagavathar,
also known as Kerala Saigal, took Selma to Chennai, so that she could try her luck in
playback singing. Selma spent a year there, and then her mother Baby came to stay with her.
When she saw Selma struggling to get assignments, her mother told her about
a young director by the name of KG George. He hailed from Tiruvalla, the
same home town as Baby. “We should ask him for an opportunity to sing in his
films,” said Baby. One day, in Ashok Nagar, they saw him accidentally.
George wore a rose-coloured shirt and tight jeans. He had Afro-style hair, like
the late guru, Sathya Sai Baba, and a thick black beard. “I did not find him
particularly attractive,” says Selma. “He seemed like an odd character.” When
Selma told him she was a singer, George immediately said he had cut out
three songs from his debut film, ‘Swapnadanam’. “In my films, there are
hardly any songs,” he said. “In case I put in some, then I will call you.”
Next to Selma’s house lived the famous producer Shobhana Parameswaran Nair.
A month later, Selma had gone to Shobhana’s house, for some work, and met
George there. “Later he told me that on the second meeting he decided he
wanted to marry me,” says Selma. “I was thin, had long hair and looked
beautiful and demure.”
Soon, George came to Selma’s house and told Baby he wanted to marry her
daughter. “My mother said that her elder son Mohan Jose, who lived in Mumbai,
made all the decisions in the family,” says Selma.
The producer of ‘Swanpakoodam’, Mohammed Bapu, lived in Mumbai.
So George went to see Bapu, and ended up meeting Mohan. “I told my mother
I was not agreeable to this proposal because George was a director and they are
always having affairs with girls,” says Selma “I knew this from personal
experience. Whenever I would approach a director for a song, he would say,
‘I will give you a chance, but we will have to do other things also’. I felt George
would be like that.”
But Mohan liked George and said yes. So, despite her apprehensions, the couple
tied the knot on February 7, 1977, at the St. Mathias Church in Chennai.
Today, when asked about her husband’s plus points, Selma says, “George’s only
aim in life was to make good films. He was always reading, writing scripts, and
remained obsessed about films. He lived in a different world and had no
interest in anything else. I had to run the household on my own. He is a great
director. Unfortunately, I cannot call him a good husband because he has never
been one.”
Two aspects deeply affected Selma. One was his propensity to get angry with
her during the early years, when he was going through intense stress while
making his films. “He would shout at me a lot,” she says. “When my daughter
Tara was in LKG [Lower Kindergarten] on a greeting card she wrote, ‘Today,
my father got angry with my mother. I was very upset when I read that.”
The second aspect was George’s penchant for ignoring her completely for
months together. “That hurt me a lot,” says Selma. “I stayed with him because
I had two children, [actor-son Arun, now 34, and daughter Tara, 29, a
Dubai-based flight purser].”
Not surprisingly, Selma thought of divorce many times, but could never take the
plunge because of the lack of financial independence.
The loss of a singing career has also been one of Selma’s biggest regrets. She
sang in 40 films, and her most popular song was 'Saradindu Malardeepa' from
the 1979 film, ‘Ulkadal’. “People have asked me why I did not continue,” says
Selma. “It is very difficult to have a career and look after the house and the
children at the same time.”
At their home in Vennala, Kochi, George, 69, moves around slowly and
unsteadily, after suffering a couple of strokes three years ago. Selma looks at him
with a mix of affection and anger. When asked for tips to give youngsters who
are about to get married, Selma says, “You have to learn to adjust. One person
should compromise. If both people stick to their egos, there is little hope.
You also need money to have a good marriage.”
(The New Indian Express, Kochi and Thiruvananthapuram)
The great director of all time in Indian movie industry, period. No one even come far close to his capability and perfection, a true genius and hero, his movies speak it well, and Mr. KG George never tried to project it. Mrs. Selma's sacrifices paid back well, such a genius can not be a great husband, that is just the way the universe is designed, nobody can be the Mr. perfect in all dimensions of life.
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