Body double to become saviour in tellyland

Body double to become saviour in tellyland

If you thought body doubles were used only in Hindi movies for the leading stars, think again. Owing to schedules of actors, body doubles are becoming a regular feature in tellyland too.

In fact, the TV industry has a number of 'duplicates' who come to the rescue of actors as ready substitutes. To name a few... Aasiya Kazi from Bandini, Ratan Rajput from Agle Janam Mohe Bitiya Hi Kijo, Roshni Parekh from Ek Chutki Aasman, Shubhangi Atre from Do Hanso Ka Jodaa that went off air recently, Amrapali Dubey from Rehna Hai Teri Palkon Ki Chhaon Mein and Ronit Roy from Bandini are said to be using body doubles to make sure that the show goes on in their absence.

So how much do body doubles help? "Television actors are very busy these days. Sometimes we have three units and we can't cope up with all in a single one day. That's when body doubles become useful," says Aasiya Kazi, lead actress of Bandini. "The work pressure gets reduced to some extent and it makes life a tad easy when we are juggling with multiple tasks. Moreover, it helps the show's continuity," she adds.

From a producer's point of view, a body double can reduce the trauma of having to wait for the star to arrive on the sets. "Using a body double involves a lot of money. Body doubles are not expensive, but the entire process adds more money to the budget of the show. The actor for whom the body double is used either comes early or late after the scene is shot. But the money spent behind the location, lights and other people involved is substantial," says producer Sunil Bora.

While some actors seem to be availing body doubles as a means to squeeze in time for other things, many are of the opinion that there should be a genuine reason why an actor should opt for this alternative. "I don't quite like the idea of a body double but recently I had to use one because I fell sick. I am thankful to the duplicates as they make our life better during difficult times," says Ratan Rajput from Agle Janam Mohe Bitiya hi Kijo.
Body doubles should be used only in case of emergency is the general opinion. As Sukesh Motwani, fiction head of an entertainment channel, says, "Body doubles are not the most ideal replacement for a missing artist. Of course, they come handy in case of an emergency. It's like a technical device and used only once in 15 scenes. They are just shot for 10-15 seconds. But as a broadcaster we don't encourage body doubles." Does using a body double for an actor hampers his/her image? "I feel using duplicates destroys the entire image of an actor because in the end it is the performance that suffers. In the entire process the co-actor too faces difficulty," says Ratan.

However, Sukesh argues, "It doesn't spoil the image of an actor as only the back is shown to the viewer."

Viewers feel using body doubles regularly amounts to deceiving them, but actors disagree. "It's not like that. If the reason is genuine, then it is okay. But if actors are using it just to mint more money elsewhere then it is not acceptable," says Ratan. And rightly so. In the current times when actors are avaible in abundance, one surely doesn't need those who don't ahve the time to shoot their own scenes.


Read more: Body double to become saviour in tellyland - The Times of India http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/entertainment/tv-/Body-double-to-become-saviour-in-tellyland/articleshow/6699501.cms#ixzz11c4NX6JZ

As mentioned in the article its ok for a BD to be used in case

of an emergency or something........but not a regular feature...

Very true, BD's should not be treated as part of the regular cast -

just emergency situations.............

@Vikrant........about Champa, please don't give them ideas...😆