It is everyone’s nightmare when their parents pass away. Recebntly, veteran actress and dancer Sudha Chandran lost her father KD Chandran today (May 16) at 9:30 am due to multiple organ failure. He was a very well know figure not just on television but in BOllywood too. Sudha confirmed the news and poured her heavy heart out to ETimes TV about her father’s demise and stated that she owes her success to him.
“It happened today morning at 9:30. He was a patient of Dementia, three-four days back, he suddenly just spaced out and he was running very high temperature. So we got a COVID test done which came out negative. But the fever was not subsiding despite giving him antibiotics. That’s when we decided to shift him to a non-Covid hospital which was Criti Care. There we found out that he was having problems with breathing and his lungs were getting affected. It was a multi-organ failure. He was also a diabetic patient and plus he was 86 year old, so one after the other his organs started collapsing. The hospital did a great job, there was no test left that we did not do. It was a multi organ failure. Today morning he suddenly slept in peace,” shared the senior actress.
Remembering his words and the lessons he taught her, the National Award winner shared, “For me he was not a normal father. He was the one who helped me to come out of my struggle and converted my failures into successes. Today I see myself as a replica of him because he was also a go getter and a fighter. He always taught me to never give up on things. I was very lucky to have such strong parents in my life. My mother and my father. I lost my mother in 2004 and it was a very big blow for me. I still remember when I met with an accident and the amputation had to take place, he came to me and held my hand and said don’t worry ‘I shall be the leg that you have lost’. Today, my success story I owe it to my parents. I have always repeatedly said this.”
The seasoned actress shares that she can feel him around, “He was with me for the last 9-10 years especially after I lost my mom, so for me he is everywhere in the house. He used to wake up at 6 in the morning and have his filter coffee being a South Indian. Then, he would read his newspaper and send messages to people. He used to watch movies. He would keep telling me just don’t keep acting. Try to listen, and understand what’s happening in our country. He would tell me it’s not just important to earn money, it is also important that you know how to enjoy your hard earned money. He has taught me so many beautiful things in life. Even when I lost my mom I was very emotional and he told me that when a person is born, one day he has to leave. It’s the reality of life, the earlier you understand and accept, the better for you. Don’t get too emotionally attached to things, be practical in life. He made me a practical, bold, strong, and stubborn person in life. I owe this life to him and my mother. That’s what I said to my father till we meet again, maybe another life where I want them to come back as my parents. I want to be reborn as their child (gets emotional),” she shared.
Talking about his work as a cultural activist, Sudha shared that he would get budding artists from Kerala and would pay him from his own pocket as he believed no artist should go empty handed, “He started his life form theatre. He would play female characters in Malayalam plays. He used to get budding artists from Kerala, because they never got any platform to perform. I remember my mother would tell me don’t splurge your salary, but he made sure that if somebody comes he should never go empty handed. There were days when he used to pay people from his own pocket. He would work in British Library as Deputy Library Director. I remember how many times he would withdraw his salary and give it to the budding artists. He was a brilliant actor and he lived like a king and went like a king. I am so proud to have had him in my life. A life beautifully led, 86 long glorious years, a life full of ups and downs, years of success, happiness and sadness, but he stood like a rock. What I loved about him he never looked up to people above him, he always looked down to people below him. He would always tell me, it’s not about money always, two sweet words of comfort that are worth millions in life. He was a person who could be very friendly with a 5-year-old at the same time he could talk with so much maturity to a person who was 70. He was a very well read person,” said she.
Sudha Chandran is very proud of her dad’s filmography and shared an interesting anecdote from her one of his film’s Hum Hai Rahi Pyaar Ke, “He would always keep telling me that you may have done 100 films but none of them made a mark. But I did only 10 films and each film is a super hit. Be it Hum Hain Rahi Pyaar Ke where he was the most loved South Indian father. I have seen him talking to Mahesh Bhatt when he offered him the film. He told him just promise me that you would not make the South Indian character look caricature. He said I hate when you say Aiyoo, Amaa, Appa, no we South Indians are not like that. We are very educated and literate people. He told Mahesh Bhatt that he would do the film only on one condition that his character would be classy, educated and not a caricature. Even for the marriage sequence in the film he had told him how the marriage happens in South Indian Brahmins and he told him you have to listen to what I say. He was brilliant in all his films be it China Gate, Shararat, Koi Mill Gaya or Tere Mere Sapne. He was nominated in the Best Supporting Actor category with Amrish Puri. He was always proud of that fact,” she revealed.
The Kaahin Kissii Roz actress, who is getting tributes, calls and messages for her late father, shares that she expected a call or message from Mahesh Bhatt, “There are a lot of people, my friends and colleagues with whom I have worked, who have called me. There are a lot of tributes coming, few filmmakers also called. I expected a call or a message from Mahesh Bhatt, but it did not come to me. Probably, he must not be having my number but I haven’t got any call or message from him so far,” she concluded.