“S o did you like the episodes?” asks an enthusiastic Chippy. More than the actor, it is the producer in her who is anxious to get feedback about her new serial, ‘Vanambadi’, produced by her home production, Avantika Creations.
Aired on Asianet, ‘Vanambadi’ tells the story of Nandini (Chippy) and her daughter, Anugraha. Nandini was married to Mohan Kumar, a singer, who abandoned her and married a wealthy woman. Living at the mercy of her brother and wife, Nandini is unhappy that Anugraha loves music and tries to keep her away from songs because of the tragic experiences in her life.
In an interview with Friday Review , Chippy talks about the serial and her career:
In a home production
I have mostly worked in our home production, the other being Rejaputhra Visual Media [run by her husband, M. Renjith] mainly because I am comfortable with the arrangement. It is ideal as I have a fairly good idea about my character in advance whereas if I am working with another production house I get to know the details only during that particular schedule.
However, the disadvantage is that there is always a constant pressure to make the audience happy without compromising on quality. Thankfully, my husband is around to take care of everything!
Role in ‘Vanambadi’
I am returning to the mini-screen after four years; my last work was ‘Akashadoothu’. I decided to do this serial because of the storyline. Music is an integral part of the narrative, a subject that has not been explored on television.
We have some of the big names in the music field associated with the work. M. Jayachandran has composed the songs, Harinarayanan has written the lyrics, and singers are Jayachandran, Sreya Jayadeep and Mridula Varier.
The story is by J. Pallassery and director is Aadithyan.
The cast
Since the serial is a musical, it was a conscious decision to take actors who have a background in music. Gauri P. Krishnan, who plays Anugraha, is a singer. A class four student, she is a recipient of the award for the best singer (professional drama) instituted by the Kerala Sangeet Natak Akademi.
Our male lead, Sai Kiran, is grandson of veteran singer P. Susheela. He is an established actor and singer in the Telugu industry. In addition we have reputed artistes such as Seema G. Nair and Nandu Poduval playing important roles.
Daily soaps
Not much has changed in terms of content. Dubbed serials and remakes of Hindi serials are now getting prime time slot like never before. Also, the fate of a serial depends a lot on the channel. If the TRP is low, you will be forced to change the story. However we are confident about ‘Vanambadi’. As for my stint in daily soaps, I have always played realistic characters. I can’t imagine myself wearing too much of make-up, which many artistes do now.
Comeback in movies
I don’t know when that will happen. My last film, Kattu Vannu Vilichappol , was released in 2000. After that I did get a lot of offers, but I didn’t take any. I am very lazy and television has become my comfort zone. Looking back I wonder how I managed to get such a big debut (Paadheyam) under such an illustrious filmmaker, Bharathan sir. I was doing my Pre-Degree then and was not into any sort of extra-curricular activities. I didn’t know anything about cinema and the craft, and he wanted such a person to play the character, Haritha. Later I got a wonderful role in Kannada, in Janumada Jodi , which won me the state award for best actress and several other awards. I did one film each in Telugu and Tamil, before my marriage. My only grouse is that I don’t get to do a variety of roles on miniscreen. I want to do a negative role, but nobody is ready to give me one. The moment I reach the sets, the glycerine bottle is placed in front of me!
(‘Vanambadi’ airs on Asianet, Monday to Saturday, at 7 p.m.)
