I want to walk again... - Surekha Sikri
The afternoon is still. And so is Surekha Sikri’s suburban home. I’m asked to wait in the drawing room as she’s readying herself inside. A soft conversation from the room inside breaks the silence. “Khichdi khaa lijiye na,” a young voice urges her gently. “Pure ghee daala ke nahin?” asks a voice firm and familiar. “Main khud khaaongi,” she further insists. Soon I’m ushered inside. I walk in with trepidation – part of it from being in awe of her talent, part of it from not wanting to burden someone convalescing after a stroke early last year.
Awards & rewards
The past year can best be dubbed as bittersweet for Surekha. Audiences loved her acerbic act in Badhaai Ho and warmed up to the 74- year- old actor, who spoke matter- of- factly about sex in her conservative household. She was honoured with the Best Supporting Actress award at the recently concluded 66th National Film Awards. The actor accepted the honour on a wheel chair and received a standing ovation for both her talent and spirit. Last year, she had won the Filmfare Award Best Supporting Actress for the same film. But she chose not to attend the function then. “I regret not attending the Filmfare Awards.
I feared I’d spoil the moment by coming in a wheel chair. I didn’t have the confidence to do that. One should walk up to the stage proudly to receive the award,” she muses. “Mere saath hamesha aisa kyun hota hai? Whenever there’s a special occasion, a hurdle crops up,” she thinks aloud. “But now I tr y to remain optimistic. I check myself when I begin to think negatively. Whatever you visualise about yourself, a blueprint of that is formed in the astral world. It comes back to you,” she says.
She has been honoured with the National Award for Best Supporting Actress twice before too — for Govind Nihalani’s Tamas ( 1988) and Shyam Benegal’s Mammo ( 1994). Surekha, who doesn’t believe in blowing her own trumpet, admits that winning an award at this juncture has been special. Badhaai Ho, featuring Ayushmann Khurrana, Neena Gupta, Gajraj Rao along with Surekha, dealt with middle- age
She’s seated on a chair, with a table attached on which is placed a warm bowl of the dalrice concoction. Her grey tresses drop in curls, still moist after the wash. What’s arresting are her kajal- rimmed eyes, reflecting the fire of an ongoing battle. She gives a shy smile, her dark eyes betraying the excitement. They’re the prisms of her soul. Hope, despair, regret, gratitude… they reflect every emotion through the conversation. There’s a strong ‘ spiritual’ presence in the room. A designated corner has images of deities with a huge photograph of Sai Baba enjoying top- billing…
pregnancy and the societal damnation it incurs. “Playing Durga was a dream role. It had an arc, a graph,” she says of her role of the sparring mother- in- law. “The saas- bahu equation undergoes a turn when Durga takes up for her pregnant daughter- in- law Priyamvada ( Neena Gupta). Her monologue where she sides with her daughter- in- law saying, “Uski marzi woh ‘ sexy’ karein!” was a joke that shook the taboo off sex in everyday conversation. “My son Rahul is unmarried or else I’d have been a great mother- in- law,” she chuckles. “My nieces, Heeba ( Shah, actor) and Bushra, are like my daughters though. My elder sister, Parveen Murad ( ex- wife of actor Naseeruddin Shah), was hugely talented. She was an ophthalmologist. She studied law. She could sculpt, paint… My younger sister Phoolmani stays in my building. Interesting name isn’t it?” she says her affection for her sisters palpable. She goes on to talk about her late husband Hemant Rege, who passed away in 2009. “I loved my husband dearly. I miss him. He was in ad production. We had a good marriage. He was a sweet and affectionate gentleman,” she says softly. Her first marriage had ended in a divorce. “Rahul is my son from the first marriage. He’s an artist,” she shares.