At 73, life has turned around beautifully for Viji Venkatesh.
She is not only making inroads into the Malayalam film industry, the Tamil actress is also a leader in cancer care and advocacy in India.
“I think it’s like a second innings for me,” she said during a recent visit to Singapore. “It was not all smooth sailing when I set out to build a life after marriage. But now I can say that I’m doing good and loving what I’m doing.”
Raised in a Brahmin household in Delhi, Viji married in 1974 and moved to Venezuela with her husband who was then in the oil business. But they soon lost all their money in the economic and political crisis that enveloped the South American country. Forced to move out, they rebuilt their lives in the United States and Mumbai.
A job at the Seattle-based non-profit The Max Foundation gave her something that she liked to do: providing cancer patients access to high-impact medicines. Then, out of the blue in 2022, she got an offer to act in the Malayalam film Paachuvum Albuthavilakkum (which means Pachu and the Magic Lamp).
Her performance as Ummachi, an independent elderly woman who defies societal norms, earned her plaudits. Now she is slated for two more Malayalam films, one of them alongside superstar Mammooty.
“I think I did good with my first film,” she said. “It’s a unique space I created. Through me people are seeing that an older woman can be a little different. She doesn’t have to be the stereotypical mother.”
Viji gives credit to the young directors for seeing her that way. “They know what they want and will go all out to get the person they have in mind to play a character,” she said.
A prolific social media user, Viji received a message on Instagram out of the blue from a casting director who said that Malayalam director Akhil Sathyan wanted to cast her in his film. “He and his team saw a photograph of mine and felt I fitted the role,” said Viji. “But I told the casting director I have a full-time job and my Malayalam was bad. No one expects to be offered a role at my age, so I really didn’t give too much thought to it.”
But Akhil insisted on meeting her, she said. They met at a cafe in Mumbai and she was impressed with his enthusiasm. “He’s a delightful young man who’s so passionate and energetic,” said Viji. “After hearing the story and the role, I said yes.”
The production crew helped Viji improve her Malayalam speaking skills and made it easy for her to act. “One of my first scenes was with (noted Malayalam actor) Fahadh Faasil, and I messed it up a bit,” she said. “But he was understanding and calmed my nerves.”
People soon began to praise her performance as Ummachi, and offers soon followed. She is currently shooting for a Malayalam movie helmed by veteran director Jayaraj.
Viji, who has two sons, a granddaughter and a grandson, has a busy life these days, acting and travelling around India to propagate her Chai for Cancer initiative, which she started as a fundraiser for underprivileged cancer patients.
“Many government hospitals have amazing support programmes where patients get free medication,” she said. “But they don’t have resources such as nutrition, shelter, transport fare and money for diagnostics.”
Viji, who is the region head of India and South Asia at The Max Foundation, is also the managing trustee of the Friends of Max subsidiary she initiated 20 years ago. Today, it aids 18,000 cancer patients. The donations the subsidiary receives fund the Chai for Cancer meetings, where people are invited to sip tea and make contributions.
“Chai is comfort and mohabbat (“love” in Urdu),” she said. “I wanted to bring cancer into this space of normalcy. This illness has so much emotional baggage and inordinate fear. Chai for Cancer stands for spreading knowledge, support and comradeship.”
Viji knows what it feels to have a cancer patient in the family, having lost her husband to cancer last year. He died within five weeks of his diagnosis.
“I’ve worked in cancer all my life, and I thought I knew everything,” she said. “And then this happened. We were in shock. My family was devastated.
“I realised there is no rich patient and no poor patient; no good cancer and no bad cancer. Whatever you are dealt with, as a human being, you are wired to survive. We have reserves of inner strength, and that kept me going.”
Viji feels it is important to follow your instincts. “Listen to your heart. Do what your gut tells you to do,” she said. “People look at you the way you look at yourself. The power to make you happy, or even unhappy – keep that power with yourself.”
