Revathi menon : From girl-next-door to woman of substance

Her private life, however, was not very successful. She married cinematographer and director Suresh Chandra Menon in 1986. The couple’s union ended in divorce in…

Her private life, however, was not very successful. She married cinematographer and director Suresh Chandra Menon in 1986. The couple’s union ended in divorce in 2013 but she took the bold decision to adopt a girl and named her Mahee.

Moving away from acting, Mitr, My Friend  released in 2002, was her first directorial venture. The movie was a rare Indian-English film at the time; the movie garnered an award for Best Director at the National awards.

Revathi’s penchant for filmmaking only grew from there. Her next Bollywood film as a director was Phir Milenge. She had cast Salman Khan, Shilpa Shetty and Abhishek Bacchan in hard-hitting roles and while it was not a raving success it did create waves as one of the first Hindi movies to deal with the sensitive subject of AIDS.

In an interview to a daily, Revathi had said that “I love doing challenging role and always look forward to do such films.”

Apart from glitz and glam of film world, Revathi has been involved in a variety of social organisations, the most notable being the Banyan, Ability Foundation, Tanker Foundation and Vidyasagar,

The actress has also served as a member of jury in several film festivals including the Chennai International Film Festival and the International Film Festival of India.

With the remake of Queen on her list, it seems Revathi is still not willing to hang up on her acting shoes. She will soon be seen in a few films like Azhiyatha Kolangal (Tamil) and Brahmotsavam (Telugu).

She added, “As an actor, I’m a little bored with the roles I’m getting. It doesn’t challenge me. I’m not interested in numbers. I want to do quality work and feel happy about it.”

Revathi loves directing films from a women’s point of view. She says the reason behind it is that ‘it’s difficult to step into a man’s shoes’.