Dual memories of life
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On the sets of mega serial `Orma,' which narrates the story of a woman who is forced to lead two lives.
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A scene from `Orma.'
COMING OUT of the elevator, they drift towards room 101. While opening the door, the room boy turns back saying "Sir, that's 107."
The air is quite heavy and Jayasoorya seems lost in the tangle of thoughts. A sympathising Meharunnisa invites the reluctant Jayasoorya, managing director, Soorya Exports, in.
The scene is from `Orma,' a mega serial currently being telecast on Asianet. A posh house was transformed into a hotel in Bangalore. The shot had to be taken twice before K.K. Rajeev, director, is satisfied. This is the second session of the shooting, which is going on in and around Thiruvananthapuram. The first schedule was shot at Gundalpet in Karnataka and Kalpetta in Wayanad district. This is Rajeev's seventh serial and a well received one after the very popular `Avicharitham.'
As is characteristic of Rajeev's stories, there is something different about `Orma' too. Revolving around the temporary loss of memory of the central character `Girli' played by Priya Raman, the story has numerous twists and turns and seeks to delineate the mental conflicts of the characters.
An orphan, Gerli has had a nondescript childhood in Mumbai. She was under the protective guardianship of Pachikka, a toy-maker, played by Thilakan. Eventually a businessman, Nandan, played by Devan, marries her. With the aim of bringing up their child, portrayed by Sanoosha, in Kerala, they embark on a journey. Unfortunately an accident turns everything upside down. The husband is killed and Gerli ends up in a Cheshire home. She loses her memory. Her skill in making designer kids wear brings her close to Jayasoorya. Suresh Krishna dons the roles of Jayasoorya. They get married. The story takes an unexpected turn when she regains her lost memory.
Sixty episodes
The serial is nearing 60 episodes and the director gives no clue as to how long it would take to wind up the tale. But he says that it is not his style to drag a story.
How did he hit upon a story like this? It was when he was shooting for `Swapnam' that a friend's sister had an accident. She slipped into a coma and when she regained her consciousness, she started behaving like a child. Rajeev worked on the theme to make it into a serial.
Big names
The serial features many big names. Urmila Unni enacts Dr. Amala who facilitates the child's upbringing under the loving care of Dr. Shyam, who is brought to life by Rajesh Hebbar. Jenni Jasmine, sister of Meera Jasmine, cine actress, plays Uma, Dr. Shyam's wife. Palattamma, Nandan's avaricious aunt is enacted by the star of yesteryear, Sreelatha. She and her nephew in the serial, Sasankan, are the negative characters. Sindhu is Meharunnisa, the only woman who has fully understood Jayasoorya.
What is different about Rajeev's serials is that he attempts to make them image-oriented rather than dialogue-oriented. The medium is special for him as a large number of people watch the serial at the same time. He had approached Sobhana and Nadia Moidu to play the character of Gerli but both of them didn't have the dates. "Then Priya Raman was the natural choice, as she brings out the different shades of the character with uncanny ease."
Ramesh Narayan scores the music for the serial and the lyrics are by S. Rameshan Nair. The serial is produced by M.V. Sreyams Kumar. The story is by Rajeev himself and Vikraman Vallikkode is the scriptwriter.
Anandan S
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