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Second innings Simran at the launch of the series

Says Subhaa Venkat, Creative Head, PSP: “‘Simran Thirai’ is a unique project that will turn out new stories every month with a different director and technicians with Simran alone being the common factor. Simran will portray diverse dimensions of a modern day woman.”

Subhaa, who has years of experience in the television industry, is writing the dialogues for “Simran Thirai”s first series “Vannathupoochi”, which is based on a story written by the late Sujatha and directed by actor-turned-director Sripriya. The second in the series is written by Sripriya and directed by noted Tamil film director Ahathiyan.

Simran married and now mother of a two-year-old son, looked stunning in a pair of jeans and a black kurti with a colourful dupatta at the launch party of the series. Says the actor with her trademark smile: “I knocked off nearly 25 kilos in the last one year to get into shape. I started my career on television by hosting ‘Superhit Muqabala’, a popular countdown show in 1995 on Doordarshan. Now I’m back to the same medium.”

She said it was Subhaa Venkat who approached her at her home in Delhi and discussed the concept of “Simran Thirai”. “I fell in love with the concept of ‘Simran Thirai’. It is not a serial but a tele-film with 12 different stories where I play the protagonist. I immediately agreed to do it.”

Simran claims she has a huge fan base among the middle class in Tamil Nadu, thanks to the kind of roles she did in her films. She says, “I don’t consider cinema and television as two different mediums for an actor. Heroines such as Kushboo and Devayani who enjoyed a terrific reach through their films clicked when they started appearing on television. I feel if you have a glamour image and can emote well in films, then your transition to television is easier.”

The actor adds, “I’m trying to balance my film career and television and, right now, TV is giving me the right platform to do performance-oriented roles.”

The first episode of “Simran Thirai” will see Raghav, well known television personality who made a name for himself through reality dance shows, paired with Simran. Savitha, Simran’s on-screen voice, dubs for her in “Simran Thirai”. The title song, written by Vairamuthu, composed by Ramesh Vinayagam, sung by Chinamayi and picturised on Simran as a music video has become a runaway hit.

The actor is also doing a reality show for a rival channel. Says Simran who is all excited about her second innings: “I think the reach of television is awesome, today in Delhi where I stay, some of the stars who appear in Hindi serials are as popular as Bollywood heroines. Imagine each episode of ‘Simran Thirai’ will be seen by more number of people than all my films put together!”

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