Suchitra with daughter Kaveri and sister Sujata who had appeared in films like English Vinglish (see pic below), Raanjhanaa and Gori Tere Pyaar Mein

Suchitra Krishnamoorthi remembers actress-sister Sujata Kumar, 53, who passed away on Sunday after a prolonged battle with cancer
As told to Natasha Coutinho (MUMBAI MIRROR; August 21, 2018)
 
Sujata was a compassionate soul who was always there for those who needed her. She touched many lives with her vivacity and generosity. She was spiritual and had the tenacity of an unrelenting warrior. She was emancipated even before people knew the meaning of women’s liberation and lived life on her own terms till the end.

My sister practically raised me and was my best friend. She loved unconditionally and gave so much to everyone in her orbit that she would often run out of energy herself. But I never imagined that she would one day no longer be a part of my life; its unbearable to even think about.

Over the years, I took her goodness for granted but like she would tell me, “Be bindaas,” I was just that. I will miss her quiet wisdom as much as her raucous laughter.

Her spirituality reflected even in her career decisions. She took up acting after being married for 12 years, not because she craved fame — she never cared about that, and in fact, she had always shied away from the limelight. She did it on a whim, to reclaim her freedom. But sometimes, she would get so bored with her acting jobs that she would call up her directors and tell them to kill off her character. “Mere charactor ko haar daalke photo lagado,” she would laugh.

She was a trained hypnotherapist and an alternate healer as well. “All people need is love and acceptance. Human beings don’t give each other enough of that,” she would often rue.

All her family and close friends called her Suzie. For me, she was my Suzie Puzie. I will miss her forever.

The actress-singer is returning to acting with a play which is based on her 2013 autobiography.
Avinash Lohana (MUMBAI MIRROR; September 2, 2016)

After a Hindi film debut in Kundan Shah's 1994 romcom Kabhi Haan Kabhi Naa, Suchitra Krishnamoorthi headed to the small screen with the mini series Kash-m-Kash two years later, only to return with Jijy Philip's 2005 Anil Kapoor-starrer, My Wife's Murder. Six years after her last screen turn in Ram Gopal Varma's Rann, the 40-year-old actress-singer is staging an acting comeback with a play.

Titled Drama Queen, it is directed by Inaayat Ali Sami and is based on her eponymous 2013 autobiography. Interestingly, the play also features anecdotes from the book, including Suchitra's proposals to filmmakers Karan Johar and Ram Gopal Varma, and has her sister, Sujata Kumar, playing her mother. It also features Suchitra Pillai as a shrink, Suresh Menon as RGV, and filmmakers Nagesh Kukunoor and Ken Ghosh as her love interests.

Suchitra reveals that it was her 15-year-old daughter, Kaveri, who has been trying to get her back to acting. "She insists that she is 'big now' and keeps reminding me that I can't use her as an excuse to stay away anymore," she laughs, adding that her "madcap and wacky" play is about the struggles and naivete of finding true love in an untrue world. "It is about exploration of loneliness, madness and the chaos in the life of a single mother trying to reclaim her place in the world."

Will there be references to her eight-year marriage to filmmaker Shekhar Kapur which ended in 2007? "I have no place for nostalgia in my life. It feels nice when people associate me with my movies but I don't feel connected with them. I am barely attached to what happened the day before yesterday, forget what happened 15 years ago," she says shortly.