I did my first film to escape harassing professor: Maheswari

In 1994, when she was barely out of her teens, former actress Maheswari landed an offer to do the Bharathiraja-directed Tamil movie ‘Karuthamma’. In an interview with Ali on ‘Alitho Saradaga’, the ‘Gulabi’ sensation said that she did the movie to find an excuse to skip college. But the movie changed her life for the better.

Speaking to the host Ali, Maheswari said, “Bharathiraja garu attended a ceremony at our house (in 1993). I had just completed Intermediate. He saw me then and told Chinnamma (Sridevi) that he wants to cast me in a film. Although she told him that I was still a student, he insisted later.”

Maheswari was not too keen on acting either. But something changed. “I was new to the Degree College. My professor at the college used to be domineering. She would always crib that I was failing to complete homework and all. She would even pinch me. I wanted an excuse to escape the college and the harassing professor. I told my mother that I want to do the movie. She agreed and I joined the cast of the film. In three months, the production works were over. An AR Rahman-composed song for the movie became a big hit. It was a meaningful movie revolving around the theme of female infanticide,” Maheswari said.

‘Maa Annayya’, the Telugu film that hit the screens in 2000, was Maheswari’s last movie.