Location Diaries: In sickness and in health

Gayathrie was quite excited to be part of the much-awaited Vijay Sethupathi-starrer Super Deluxe. As part of her preparation, she was asked by the director to put on a little weight since she had to look the part of a married woman with a child. The actor happily obliged, taking every opportunity to eat. She went all out and ate everything she loved. Bit by bit, her weight started increasing.

Unfortunately, with just a week to go before the shoot, Gayathrie fell seriously ill. "As a result, I started vomiting several times a day. By the time the shooting date came, I'd lost all the weight I had painstakingly gained!" she recalls.

At the shooting spot, she felt weak due to vomiting several times  day. And anxious too, never knowing when the next bout would strike. "I could not hold down any food at all. I would vomit every time I ate anything. Luckily, I didn't throw up during any take. Somehow I never felt sick when I was working. But as soon as my shot was over, I would puke in the break time! So I began getting afraid of breaks."

While she was struggling to cope with her illness, she found director Thiagarajan Kumararaja and his team very supportive. "I could only eat biscuits for many days. Slowly I began getting better. My director was so considerate, he would get me home-cooked food. Even the assistant directors began doing that. I felt so loved and grateful to be taken care of like that. Without their help, I wouldn't have made it through that shoot in the condition I was in."

As for her lean and weak look, the director found it didn't matter after all and that she fit her part on screen despite her illness.