Article:'Working In TV helps'-Manasi

"WORKING IN TV HELPS"
Manasi Parekh says she can now face any problems in real life

Mansi Parekh has changed a lot, indeed. From the nervous, media shy girl, who wouldn't venture a line beyond the query's brief, when we first met her during the launch of India Calling a few months ago, today she is loquaciousness personified. Gone is that nervous, naivet, as she answers more confidently with an occasional take on the working of the TV industry. Perhaps, she restrains herself a bit, only when she is canning the "coy and blushing bride to be scenes" for the day's shoot.

It's been quite a bull run for Mansi as Chandni, the protagonist of India Calling, which recently crossed the 150-episode mark on Star One. Starting with a lot of promise and an innovative backdrop, India Calling took the soap storyboard out of the predictable glam kitchen and bedroom set up to a more relatable and contemporary call center. It's another story that the serial today has lost that USP.

"India Calling started in a different way, with the story set in a milieu, the urban audience could relate to better. But the current backdrop isn't bad either. Our rural takeoff shows that it's cool to be Indian," says Mansi. Politically correct, it has to be, coming as it is from the soap's lead actress, but doesn't it now look like a 'me-too' show, it so wanted to contest at the time of the launch? Mansi agrees, but she sees no reason to complain either. "I don't know why this change has happened, but it was and still is Chandni's story." More so, with Chandni now getting married to her original bete-noire Aditya. However, she seems to be as comfortable in her simple salwars, (a character dictated sartorial misfit amongst the chic call center crowd) as the resplendent lehengacholi with all the attendant jewellery as she gets ready for her onscreen marriage.

"Chandni's story still is that of the triumph of the underdog, without going through any physical transformation," she says. The dig isn't unintentional. When India Calling was launched, insinuations abounded on her plain Jane lost in the chic call centre act, being another me-too of the Jassi effect.

"Five years ago we had Ekta Kapoor and Balaji.

Now is the time for another big change, which means getting beyond the stereotypes," says Mansi, as she seems to do her bit of crystal ball gazing for the TV industry, adding, "As regards my favourite TV soap, it's Ally Mcbeal which balances all aspects of life with humour." Mansi who had hopped onto the acting bandwagon (India Calling is her third serial but the first as lead) just after graduation, as part of a year-long break, reveals of having had only one holiday between work, since then. "TV actors working in a daily don't really have a life, but if you love what you do then work doesn't seem like work anymore," a predictable raga one would often hear from the busy TV stars of the daily genre. But she has a different take on her working schedule. "Working 14-16 hours a day, on a daily basis, has made me much more patient as a person. Earlier I used to be very restless and lost my temper quite often, but now I am used to the pace of the industry. Working in TV has prepared me to deal with any problem in life." She's also become quite a natural before the camera. Mansi even offers suggestions to the photographer, on the how and why of clicking a mutually satisfying photograph. "Life is not always about what you want, but what happens is for the better," she signs off.

We couldn't help but agree with her — as the change is there for all to see — and thankfully it's been for the better.