The show must go on, off-screen too

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Posted: 19 years ago
#1

The show must go on, off-screen too

Actors play their on-screen parts even away from the arc lights in a bid to make their characters more popular among viewers.

Reel meets real and very soon it gets difficult to tell the difference. And if you are scratching your heads at this, we're sure Jassi, aka Mona Singh, in all her starchy suit and horn-rimmed spectacled glory at film award functions would definitely have left everyone looking around for the director to scream 'cut' at any moment!

As the competition for TRPs hots up, actors - be it TV serials, hosts for shows on music channels, or even an Aamir posing for a commercial in his Mangal Pandey garb - choose to live their on-screen character off the screen as well. All for the "goodwill that is associated with a character portrayed as someone picked from real life", according to Deeya Singh, producer, Jassi Jaisi...

"While I would not say that we thought of the idea is a bid to hike up the points,"stresses Deeya, "we felt there was a need to let the public know that the character was very believable.

And the adulation that Jassi got was amazing. Everywhere that we would take her, people would want to meet her.

She touched a chord in everybody, dressed and appearing the way she did. Actually, it was because Jassi denoted a little failing in all of us,"exults Deeya adding that secretaries in particular wanted to meet Jassi and share their experiences with her.

Amar K Deb, creative director for the Lola Kutty show that has the show's host Lola Kutty appearing in all her public dealings as her on-screen self, is equally exultant about the music channel's venture.

"Our channel survives on creating whacky ideas out of nothing. And we can say that Lola's character is sure a hit by the response she gets off-screen as well. For instance, in a 12-hour live show we had, it was Lola who became the darling of the audience despite some of the best musicians and singers being part of it as well!"

That's all very well for the show and its producers, but what about the actors themselves - how easy or difficult is it to be living behind the identity of a character played by them on-screen?

According to Munish Makhija, more famous as the rustic Udham Singh, characters played by them are actually an extension of their own personality.

"Udham Singh became a success because it defined me,"he stresses. "I am a curious observer of life and being Udham Singh gave an outlet to my curiosity,"he guffaws adding that there are still times when he misses the part of the village bystander.

An observation VJ Lola (we still do not know her real identity) would completely agree with. "Guess living in a dual personality mode is easy because I am a Gemini,"she jokes, before adding that, "I am actually a small town girl from Kerala with her associated personal baggage, trying to find her way about the world."

Surely, enacting a role even off-screen would take its toll on more people; Mona Singh was once heard admitting that she had had enough of the frumpy Jassi.

"I guess it is about the involvement that an actor has with its character,"says Ketan Mehta while talking about Aamir Khan's on and off-screen Mangal Pandey look. "It's all about getting under the skin of a character,"he adds, "And any promotion of The Rising... was incidental."

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tiki5434 thumbnail
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Posted: 19 years ago
#2

it's a repost but *gratitude* anyway! 😃

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