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Grime and glamour
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We tend to see the tele-stars' lives as glamorous. But only a few realise the grunge that lies behind the label
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While most of the workers are asleep on the sets, we catch the lead actress awake
LISSOM THREESOME Niyati Joshi, Ami Trivedi and Manasi Salve in their reel get-up
The occasion was the announcement of Sati - Satya Ki Shakti, a new soap on SaharaOne to be aired from this Monday. A hoopla was raised by the house of Sahara by flying in mediapersons from across the country to Mumbai this week, not just to share this slice of news but to notice the channel's new look and anthem - `Television Ka Naya Rang'. Purnendu Bose, COO of SaharaOne, elaborates it thus: "We want to tell the viewers that there is a lot more to women than just the saas-bahu fights. So all our serials are a conscious thrust on women in different lights."
With such a projection in a competitive market where SaharaOne is yet to prove itself on the rating charts, the channel head takes the visiting mediapersons for "some first-hand feel" of the sets of the serials.
So, bundled in four SUVs, we first head to Film City where Sati... is being shot. A story of four wronged women trying to set everything right in society through their law firm, Swayam, penned by Kamlesh Pandey of Rang De Basanti fame, the serial is making use of Film City's much-used high court façade for its court scenes.
Quick run
What we spot is the camera running and re-running for takes and retakes, actors getting ready for shots, junior artistes told off for not coming up to the mark, make-up men touching up the face paint on the actors, the director and his assistants okaying shots by checking on a computer monitor, even as someone on a mike barks abuses at whoever makes a noise.
Her shot over, Manasi Salve, the serial's lead actress seen in the Balaji Telefilm serial, Koi Apna Sa, mingles with the presspersons for a conversation. "I come here at nine in the morning and pack up after a 12-hour shift," she says, adding it is nothing usual for a tele-actress. Manasi is soon joined by her co-actors Dimple Inamdar, Dimple Hirji and Sandeep Rajaura. On a humid afternoon with occasional breeze that thankfully dries up the beads of sweat, all these actors, in full make-up and gaudy clothes, look utterly at ease sitting under a canopy of a banyan tree, waiting for their shot to be readied.
"This is the usual drill," says Sandeep dispassionately. Sandeep, in case you can't recall, was appreciated a great deal for his role on Zee TV's Kareena Kareena.
We soon see food being laid out from huge aluminium casks below a tree for the crew. Plates are distributed and the workers, junior artistes and spot boys alike, dig in, even as hungry dogs make their rounds looking for a morsel or two.
"I get my food from home," Manasi says, on being asked. So do her co-stars, simply because they have to "maintain" their figure and skin with the right diet. "We hardly get to sleep and so we have to concentrate on diet," adds Dimple Hirji.
Talking about her career moves, Dimple Inamdar gives you a peek into the instability of a tele-actor's vocation. "This is my first daily soap. I have done a few Hindi film roles but I am tired of working in them. In Hum Dil De Chuke Sanam, I was Aishwarya Rai's sister. I shot for 40 days but finally I was in just one scene. I was never paid for it even."
Junior artiste Sharan Kumar too has a similar tale to share. "For the last 35 years I have been acting as a junior artiste. I get paid very little. Even that money doesn't come easily. I have to pester for it and sometimes the cheques bounce," he says.
A little shocked at the grime behind the glamour of television, we move on, this time to visit S.J Studios, where the SaharaOne serial, Suno... Harr Dill Kuchh Kehtaa Hai is being canned. There too, the same scenes follow.
Suno...
The lead actress, Niyati Joshi says, "I long to meet my friends but I just can't manage. I tell myself, I am investing in my career this way." Conversation over and shot not ready yet, Niyati is soon found pulling up a shawl over herself to take a quick nap. Shooting for 14 hours a day all through the week, you are not surprised to see her in that state.
Her co-star Romit Raj says, "It is surely a wild goose chase. You have to make the right moves. And to be noticed, you have to maintain a certain lifestyle, go to the gym, take dance classes, and for that you need money." He is happy that his parents have supported him in this regard.
Feeling more disheartened at the huge divide between the grunge and glamour of the telly-world, we make yet another visit, this time to a studio in MIDC area, where yet another serial of the channel, Kituu Sabb Jaanti Hai is being shot. The scene here is even worse, nowhere near the thrill of television. Since morning, there has been a power cut in that area and so, all the actors, in their reel get-up, are waiting for the return of electricity. While most of the workers are seen sleeping on sofas, chairs and even on the floor, we catch the lead actress, Ami Trivedi awake.
"Sorry, it is very hot in my cabin. No power," she says by way of greeting. Having arrived on the sets at 9 in the morning, she is game, along with the others, to grind through the heat till 10 p.m. in the hope of the lights coming back. "When you can't shoot for some other reason, at least you have the comfort of sitting in an air-conditioned room," she says.
She wants to do other serials too, but like most tele-actors doing dailies, she has no time to spare. The best thing, though, is that none of them are found complaining. Well, such is the pursuit of popularity!
SANGEETA BAROOAH PISHAROTY
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