COCKPIT DREAMS

Soorarai Pottru director Sudha Kongara is flying high after her film won five national awards

- LAKSHMI SUBRAMANIAN

Only a woman can understand a woman’s pain. Whether this axiom is true or not, it was certainly the case with Sudha Kongara as she listened to Bhargavi, the wife of Air Deccan founder, Captain G.R. Gopinath, talk about how they lived without any earnings for over 10 years. “Bhargavi used to tell me about how she would prepare food even when there was nothing in the house,” says Kongara. “And how she ran the show even when life was so difficult.” What she took home was not Bhargavi’s words, but the emotion behind them, which she channelled powerfully into the character Bommi (Aparna Balamurali) in her film, Soorarai Pottru. Kongara gives almost as much importance to Bommi as Captain Gopinath’s character, Maara (Suriya). Their dynamics gives depth to the narrative and makes Soorarai Pottru one of the most emotionally rewarding offerings from Tamil cinema in recent times.

And now, Kongara is on seventh heaven with her film winning five national awards—for best feature film, best actor, best actress, best screenplay and best music director. “Namma Jaichittom, Maara” (We won, Maara), she captioned a photo on Instagram of her cutting a cake with the team.