It's been 22 years since Sonia Agarwal made her acting debut in Selvaraghavan's Kadhal Konden. All these years later, Sonia lives by her three-point formula — work in roles she believes in, draw boundaries when needed, and strive to achieve success in all her roles. She is among the handful of female stars in a male-dominated industry to continue to feature prominently in film posters. Discussing her longevity, Sonia says, “The constant love from the audiences made me reach this position. It feels good, and I am blessed to consistently receive good scripts. Honestly, I never wanted to do a ‘normal’ character from day one of my career. I have always played a strong female lead, even if there was an equally big hero basking under the limelight. Be it Divya, Anitha or Angel, my roles are always layered and deep.” In fact, Sonia shares that this pursuit of such roles started right from her critically acclaimed debut performance in Kadhal Konden. “Once you have established yourself as an actor who plays meaningful characters, you can’t go back to working on ‘normal’ roles. I had to become a conscious actor,” she explains.
The culmination of it all has landed on Will, her upcoming film, where she sits on the elevated judge’s seat for the first time in her career. “I was nervous to wear the coat,” shares Sonia, crediting director Sivaraman, a lawyer himself, for getting the nuances of a courtroom setting right and extracting the exact performances needed for the film. “Sometimes, there is a chance of directors missing a few details in films like these. However, Will is carefully constructed since the director has experienced living in such a setting. Crafting roles like lawyers and doctors requires meticulousness as they are strong personalities. While wearing their uniforms, we need to respect these roles,” she notes, adding how her brother and composer Saurabh Agarwal had developed tunes aligned to these themes.
Early on in her career, Sonia Agarwal had benefited from being part of several films that have gone on to become cult classics in Tamil cinema—Kaadhal Kondein, 7G Rainbow Colony, Thiruttu Payale and Pudhupettai. Recalling memories from these films, she points to how Pudhupettai, starring Dhanush and herself, changed how people looked at films. “It greatly influenced how the audience looked at films. It taught people in the industry to utilise their resources to make wonderful films. If we could do this film without the technological advancements that we have now, imagine the potential that we hold in our hands now,” she reflects, adding, “Similar to Pudhupettai, I continue to always look for roles where women are strong. She can be naïve, but there needs to be an unshakeable inner strength in her.”
However, these films have also sparked discussions of whether they have aged well over the years. “If given a chance, I wouldn’t change anything about my characters in these films. If we do so, neither the audience nor I will be able to accept it. Don’t you think people today deliberately make controversial films?” she probes. “At least what we did was raw and real. Maybe it hit hard for certain people. We didn’t intend to make it controversial. Today, most people are deliberately making it controversial to gain publicity. It is almost like nobody is interested in a project unless they can create some kind of controversy out of it. Do the makers think that is the only way our audience will look forward to a film?” she elaborates.
Sonia points out that the differences in the industry's machinations were more starkly visible when she returned from a five-year sabbatical with Vaanam (2011). When questioned whether the break changed how filmmakers saw her, and the kind of roles that came her way, Sonia says, “It did change. I would like to be very honest about it. I feel that is how the industry works. If a female actor is getting married and takes a break for a year or two, people should still consider her for leading roles as long as she looks fit. As long as she’s performing well, looks good, and is fit, why should her personal life matter? Earlier, marriage often meant the end of lead roles for female actors, and I did face those consequences. But I think things are finally changing.” This also meant Sonia was frequently offered mother roles and had to face ageism in the industry. “I wanted people to stop asking me to play a mother of a 25-year-old when I was like 30 or 35. However, people continue to call me for these roles. My manager shows them my recent photos and we ask them, ‘Do I look old enough to play such a mom?’ Let me become that old first!” she exclaims.
While Sonia highlights that she is open to working in all genres, her recent films have been horror-thrillers, and she understands that it is important to ride the trends in cinema. “Once a genre clicks, everyone rushes to make more of the same. As an artist, you don’t always have much choice there. There was a time when horror and thrillers were in demand, and naturally, I started getting more scripts in those genres. As long as I am happy with the script and role, I take it up,” she says. Does she sometimes miss playing light-hearted characters? “I’ve done all kinds of roles,” says Sonia. “From playing a physically active character to a naive, innocent girl like Anitha, to bold ones like Selvi. Then came roles like Grandma, horror films like 7/G, and raw and gritty films like Dandupalayam. My only agenda has always been to do something different every time,” she states, underlining that the kind of role and script matter more than working with a well-established production house or a star.
“I’ve worked with production houses that didn’t have a big hit to their name. Even Kaadhal Kondein was a small-budget movie, but look at what it achieved. It doesn’t always have to be a rich production house, and visually grand films. The script is all that matters. And all films have the same aim\—achieve success at the box office,” says Sonia, who also shares what success means to her. “Box-office success is important. I won’t say I’m fully satisfied just because I have chosen a script that I love—my real joy comes when it does well commercially. That’s what I aim for with every project. I work, wish, and pray for that box office hit.”
Interestingly, 21 years after its release, 7G Brindhavan Colony, the Telugu version of 7G Rainbow Colony, returned to theatres in the Telugu states to overwhelming fanfare and packed houses. “It sounds strange when people say it has been 20 years,” laughs Sonia. “Looking back, none of us imagined it would reach the cult status it holds today. I watched the first-day show in Tamil, and that very day, I got a call saying the Telugu version had become an even bigger hit. I attended the re-release promotions in Hyderabad, but unfortunately, I couldn’t catch the film. I really hope it’s re-released in Tamil too. I’d love the chance to experience it again on the big screen,” she says. On speculations of her coming back to work in the sequel, also directed by Selvaraghavan, Sonia remains tight-lipped. “Just like the film, I want this to be a surprise for audiences as well,” she laughs, before signing off.