Article:- Famous Actors of K-serials

ROLE reversal

Rachit Gupta Posted online: Friday , March 21, 2008 at 1439 hrs

While women have always enjoyed watching the 'K' sagas on tube, men have always found reason to ridicule and criticise these shows. Nevertheless, the dominant sex is an integral part of these serials too. Kiran Kumar, a veteran actor who's been around on TV and films for decades points out that the small screen has always been about entertaining the fairer sex. "Globally, you have shows like Bold And The Beautiful, Three's Company, Charlie's Angels and even in our country one has these Kyunkis, Kahanis and Kasautiis all of which cater to the female audience. TV caters to an audience that stays home and its women who stay home at most times" reveals Kumar.

The seasoned actor goes on to say that any actor in the entertainment industry looks for good work, regardless of the medium. "I play a patriarch in the serial Grihasti that comprises a family of women. As an actor I can be deterred, but our creative drive inspires us to make a mark for ourselves amidst all that female competition," he points out.

Sharad Malhotra who plays Sagar in Banoo Main Teri Dulhan believes a male actor needs more than just conviction to make a name for himself in a women oriented medium. "I have been lucky enough to receive meaty roles, ones that are prominent alongside the main female protagonist. Luck is an important part of success on TV," opined Sharad.

Examples of male actors making a name for themselves and topping the popularity charts is no secret. A few years ago actors like Kanwaljeet Singh, Shekhar Suman and Satish Shah were television superstars and commanded a phenomenal price of around Rs 50,000 per episode. Today the Ronit Roys and Hiten Tejwanis are ruling the tube and being paid a handsome amount. Others in the reckoning include Kiran Karmarkar, Rajeev Khandelwal, Hussain and Shabbir Ahluwalia.
This despite the fact that unlike in films, television gives women an upper edge wherein the top actresses can command an equal if not more money than their male counterparts.

Ronit Roy, currently, the most popular male actor on TV believes characters work for TV stars. As he rightly puts it, "For people to identify you as an actor you need to have a strong character like Mr Bajaj from Kasauti…or Mihir from Kyunki…That is the only way one can be noticed while working with the hugely popular Tulsis, Parvatis or Prernas."