Actor Radikaa Sarathkumar delivered an emotional speech at the 100-day celebration of her film Thaai Kizhavi recently. At the event, Radikaa also spoke about the feedback she received from the late Bharathiraja, who directed her in her debut film Kizhakke Pogum Rail (1978). At the start of her speech, she recalled how Kizhakke Pogum Rail ran for 365 days at one theatre back in the day. "For it, I received a memento from Nadigar Thilagam Sivaji Ganesan sir for the first time in my life," the actor said, referring to her recognition in Kizhakke Pogum Rail.
Then, she reminisced about her recent meeting with Bharathiraja, whom she described as her 'first director' and her 'guru'. Initially, Radikaa thought that Bharathiraja would not have watched the film because of his health condition at the time. However, the actor was in for a surprise when she visited the legendary filmmaker at the hospital. "I could not believe that he watched the film because he was very sick," the actor said about the late filmmaker.
Recalling the meeting, she added, "The moment I entered the hospital, a nurse got very excited about seeing me. She told me, 'He was talking about you just now.' I told her, 'About me? What would he have spoken about me? Has he admonished me?'
Bharathiraja told Radikaa that her film was "superb," as was its director Sivakumar Murugesan. The actor added that she felt very sad after Bharathiraja's passing. "I called Sivakumar one day, when I was quite sad after Bharathiraja's death, and told him, 'You are the last director he praised. Make sure to live up to it,'" Radikaa Sarathkumar said, referring to the conversation with the legendary filmmaker about Thaai Kizhavi's director.
Notably, Thaai Kizhavi marked Sivakumar Murugesan's directorial debut.
