BANGALORE - Kannada actress Uma Shri, winner of best actress National Award for “Gulabi Talkies”, gives credit to her director Girish Kasaravalli for the honour and says that for her role she had to “unlearn many things and just submit to the director”.

“The National and state government award for ‘Gulabi Talkies’ is certainly the biggest achievement of my career and I should only thank Girish Kasaravalli sir for that,” Uma Shri told IANS.

“Gulabi Talkies” is the screen adaptation of Kannada writer Vaidehi’s book “Gulabi Talkies and Other Stories”. It is about an expert midwife Gulabi, played by Uma Shri, who is neglected by a number of people for being a Muslim. The actress says she never took on the film to win awards, but just to work with Kasaravalli.

“I did not act in this film hoping for an award. The call from Girish Kasaravalli was enough for me to accept the offer. I did not think about anything else and just said yes. I did not know my role in the film, the background of the role or the number of days I had to work. I just went to the shooting spot without expecting anything. I was excited to just be a part of a film directed by Girish Kasaravalli,” said Uma Shri.

“Girsh had watched me in some of my films and plays. He had even appreciated my performance in much acclaimed plays like ‘Odalaala’ and others. But I never got an opportunity to work with Girish sir earlier. ‘Gulabi Talkies’ was my first film with him. Oh, what an opportunity I thought. But I did not think this would fetch a National and State Award for me,” she said.

“It would be an understatement if I say that I am excited to hear this news of winning the award. Though I have won several awards in my career, this is certainly special for me. This was one film where I had to unlearn many things and just submit to the director,” said Uma Shri who won the Best Actress State Award for the same film from the Karnataka government.

The actress, who is active in theatre too, has acted in more than 300 Kannada films. She became popular for working in comedies, but showed her potential in a number of other Kannada films like director Ravichandran’s “Putnanja”, Mahesh’s “Thumbida Mane” and “Kurigalu Saar Kurigalu” which was directed by S.V. Rajendra Singh Babu.