ARTICLES ONLY (No Comments Please) - Page 2

She has almost disappeared from the tube post Sarkkar on Zee. And now Moulli Ganguly is all set to woo the telly audience with her charismatic performance, as Mrs. Divya Balraj, in Resham Dankh on Star One.

Well known for doing dramatic roles, this will be the first time where Moulli will be essaying a role which is light on emotions. "Till date I have played characters which are dark and with a mixture of emotions, ranging from anger to sadness to revenge. But in Resham Dankh, I will be acting like a normal woman. She has her share of happiness and problems. But there is a touch of comic relief too. This aspect is what struck me, and also prompted me to take up this show,"says the Bong actress.

"Resham Dankh, the title itself means something as soft as satin too, could give you pain. Too hard to believe, isn't it? The show's theme is centered on a wonder child who changes the family's destiny," adds this doe eyed beauty.

How her new serial will fare with regards to viewership, we ask and she states, "It all depends on the story line. There are many shows on various channels which were thought to be a dud, but proved to be otherwise. Resham Dankh, unlike many serials, has a well-defined, strong story line, right from the start to it's end, which is based on a novel. So it should strike a chord with the audience and thereby be popular".

F Factor

In Star One's Resham Dankh he plays Aditya Balraj, an absolute gentleman, who treats everyone with respect and loves his family. And this courteous nature of his is not just restricted to his reel life.

This is evident if one were to call up this guy. His answering machine greets you with Rahil's deep voice apologizing for not being to able to answer the phone as he is tied up with some work. And the funniest aspect is that the entire message is taped in chaste Hindi, filmy ishtyle!

Here is the entire voice mail for you:
Eh kash, is waqt hum apse behas kar pate,
Lekin afsoos hum is waqt ek zaroori kaam main ulje hue hain
Isliye krupya aap apne shubh naam aur number apni pyaari awaz ke zariye chod dijiyega
Hum aapse vaada karte hain, ke hum aapse turanth hi behas karne ki poori poori koshish karenge.

So all folks out there think out of the box when it comes to your voice mails. You'd never know we would chance up on it and feature it here!

A little about your character in Resham Dankh
I'm playing 'Jana Bhau' a character with shades of humour and negativity. He stays as a tenants in a chawl. The Balraj family becomes bankrupt and comes to live there. He opposes this as he wanted his friends to come and live there. He also aims to become the Corporator of the ward in which he lives so tries his hand at playing politics with people with people in the chawl. The humour bit is there's never any financial contribution from him even when everybody else does their bit.

What has been the response to this character?
There's been mixed response. My friends and co-stars find him cute and humorous. It's a well-defined character, so it's fun to perform.

Your characters seem to have a peculiar trait in them!
Ram Kapoor of Hum Saath Aath Hain was another well-defined character and people tried to ape him a lot. His laugh and Punjabi accent had become a style. I was even nominated for 'Best Actor' for the role. I also did a character called Saxena in Shree Sifarish Lal. He had a typical way of speaking. He'd first speak to himself and then perform an action.

Which has been your favorite screen character, so far?
I did Ajnabee in '95. It was co-produced by Danny Denzogpa and Romesh Sharma. I played a BSF officer in it and it was shot in LoC. It was a very strong character and in the end he even shoots his own brother in the end as his brother joins hands with terrorists. This was among the serious characters that I'd played. Of the humorous characters, it's Ram Kapoor of Hum Saath Aath Hain. Finally, I realized that making others laugh is very important in today's world. The character was well-portrayed and my accent and mannerisms really clicked with the audience. The best part was that although it was a comedy show, every episode ended on an emotional note. I'm also enjoying 'Jana Bhau' as my director, Dharam Pal, adds little punches to my character and enhances it. We used to be co-actors years back and I was surprised to see that he was to direct this show.
You are also into theatre!
I co-produce shows for Yatri. I'll be going to Dubai for some shows of Abhi To Main Jawan Hoon. We performed Perfect Husband in New Jersey'. The response to shows abroad is the same as one would get in Calcutta or even Ludhiana. It's amazing.

What prompted you to start your career with both theatre and television?
That was way back in '87. Theatre was the right medium for me to make my debut as an actor. It gave me the required amount of confidence and also taught me humility. I cleaned floors and even polished shoes of some actors. Theatre teaches you dignity for these things. It also teaches you how to laugh at your self. I feel an actor cannot do comedy unless he can make fun of himself. I'd also developed this habit of speaking to the writers about my characters so that I could enact them well. I do the same on television now.

Most actors feel theatre is more difficult than television!
I don't agree with that. We have a lot of rehearsals in theatre so it's easy for us to play our characters. Television is too fast-paced and there's no time to develop our characters.

How about films?
I'd love to do films if something good is offered to me. I think most of the times filmmakers think that television actors are too busy so stay away from us. I haven't yet approached any filmmakers but have no ego hassles about that. If I were to hear of someone auditioning for any role, I'd surely go for it. But otherwise, I'm happy doing television. What I'd really like to do on television is anchoring musical shows. I want to explore other possibilities on television.

How about direction?
Not yet. I'm enjoying acting.

How would you want to see yourself a few years from now?
A better actor who is very famous and also versatile. I'd also love to be known as an anchor. I also sing a bit although I haven't trained for it. My plays will continue. I'd love to do plays for other groups also. I'll also do English plays provided I get good roles and scripts.

http://www.cybernoon.com/DisplayArticle.asp?section=xtras&am p;am p;subsection=showbuzz&xfile=November2006_tvtrack_standar d319&child=tvtrack