There was a time when she ruled the silver screen but nothing much was heard for a long time about the Mollywood heroine who played many a memorable role including the unforgettable one in National Award winning Chemmeen. She made a comeback two decades after leaving the film world with a strong performance in Sathyan Anthikkad’s Manasinakkare. She not proved that her charm is intact but also earned positive reviews. Offers have been pouring since then, but she says, “None of the roles have appealed to me.” In fact, the veteran actor has agreed to play a prominent role in Palakkatu Madhavan, a Tamil film along with Vivek and Meera Jasmine. Settled in Chennai, Sheela has been a vibrant presence in the social circles there and keeps herself up to date about the latest trends in the film industry, especially in Malayalam cinema. For a while, there has been a lot of speculation that the actress has a certain inclination towards politics. Giving credence to such rumours, Sheela visited Defence Minister A.K. Antony in New Delhi. “It was just a courtesy visit and nothing more!,” she says. “I do respect the Congress, but it is too early to confirm if I will join the party.” Though socially conscious, she does not believe in doing social work to gain popularity. She narrates an incident when she saw a lady sitting on the roadside for two days. “I called up a destitute home and they took her to their place.” She has varied interests that keep her busy. Apart from writing a Malayalam novel Kuilinte Koodu and several short stories, she is also into painting. She says, “The medium I use is oil on canvas, So far I have not conducted any exhibition but I plan to do one in the near future.” All the same, cinema continues to be her main passion and the actor is keen to meaningful roles. One wish she nurtures is to don the role of an AIDS patient. “I want to do this to send a message to the society. There was a plan to do a documentary on renowned singer M.S. Subbu -lakshmi but that did not take off,” she says.
