Mallika Sukumaran, mother of Prithvi's is one of the leading actress in Kerala.

Wife of the late actor Sukumaran, Mallika had started her acting career in 1974 in Aravindan's `Utharayanam.' Her plunge into filmdom was impulsive and she soon realised the difficulties of making it big in Kollywood. Later, she married Sukumaran and left the silver screen. After Sukumaran's death, Mallika, much to the relief of her sons, refused to be cocooned in gloom.

Mallika made a comeback in `Peythozhiyathe,' a serial directed by K.K. Rajeev. She donned the character of a sister and a doting aunt. One of the young actors, Poornima Mohan, later became her daughter-in-law in real life.

Mallika took care to see that she was not typecast as the sister in all her serials. She showcased her versatility as an actress in serials such as `Valayam,' `Snehadooram,' `Sthree Oru Santhwanam,' `Porutham' and so on. Her outstanding performance in `American Dreams' as an elderly lady offering solace and support to the members of an Indian family in the United States won her the Film-TV Critics' award. She also insists on doing her own dubbing.

"Expression and voice must go together to emote effectively," she maintains. As she extols the virtues of her daughter-in-law, it leads to the question, `Is she another Chandramathi?'

She laughs and takes you to watch her little granddaughter `Prarthana' sleeping. One becomes conscious of her new role - of a proud grandma.

HER INNATE sense of humour is evident when she speaks or acts. Her roles in the Seventies in films such as `Hello Darling' and `Penn Pada' with the leading comedians of those days such as Adoor Bhasi and Bahadur stand out. And now Mallika Sukumaran dons the role of Chandramathi in a serial that is different from the sob stories that dominate the small screen. She plays a possessive mother-in-law who tries to browbeat her daughter-in-law, Indumukhi.

Right from the title song, the serial takes a dig at the mother-in-law-daughter-in-law relationship. "The response has been very positive," says Mallika gleefully. Her actor sons Indrajith and Prithviraj had called her to convey the lavish praise they have been receiving on her behalf, she says.

"The rapport among the members of the set is a major factor for the success," she says.