Actress Sangeetha Mohan is enjoying her new-found status, that of a writer. As Atmasakhi , a mega serial written and scripted by her for Mazhavil Manorama is climbing the popularity charts, Sangeetha is obviously excited. “It feels good, you know. Am I the first woman writer of a mega serial on Malayalam television? I think I should find it out...,” smiles Sangeetha as we catch up with her over phone.
The journey to this new role was unexpected. “I used to write poems... I don’t know if you can call them poems. I always wrote for myself and never put it in the open for public review. A blank paper and pen always tempted me! I expressed myself through my writings, that’s all,” she says.
The story of Atmasakhi was with her for a long time and she had even submitted it to a channel. Apparently they “weren’t ready to take a risk with a new person”, says Sangeetha. When she was told that there was a slot for an investigative series on this channel, she came up with a script. But that didn’t materialise. However, she got the green signal for the latter from Kairali TV and it was telecast as Vaasthavam; it ran for just over 30 episodes. “I wouldn’t call it my debut venture. It was a homework. Atmasakhi is my first full-fledged entry into the profession,” she says.
As usual, it tells a complicated story of a happy family and what happens when their past deeds catch up with members of the family. “Veteran Mohan Kupleri is the director. I had acted in his serial, Indulekha , with me as Indu and Beena Antony as Lekha. Beena is doing an important role in Atmasakhi and it was nice to work with them again. All the major artistes in the serial are fresh faces. I was part of the team that did the casting, because I wanted to ensure that the characters looked like those in my script,” she says.
So is it true that the writers churn out the script on the sets of the serials? And, that it is the channel that determines the future of a show? “Very true. There are a few writers who write the scenes as the shoot is in progress. The channels do have a say and sometimes they ask the makers to tweak the storyline or even take off a show if it has a poor rating. However, I haven’t encountered that till now. Actually I am well-prepared for any such eventuality. Having worked in the industry for 22 years now, I know what I can/should do and what I shouldn’t. Except for the first schedule I have never been to the location of Atmasakhi ,” she says.
Now for the clichéd question - did she face the gender bias as a writer. “Not really. I didn’t even think on the lines. But yes, there were people who said that I had a career as an actress and so wondered why I was doing this. One thing I feel bad about is that I haven’t got enough feedback from the industry itself. May be that is because I don’t have a big friends’ circle and I don’t go out much. What really hurts me is that there is a rumour going around that someone else is ghost-writing for me. How can they question my effort?” she says.
In the meantime she has started getting offers from various quarters to write scripts. But she hasn’t taken up any. “That would be too much to handle. In fact I haven’t acted in any serials for quite sometime now,” says Sangeetha, who faced the camera for the first time as a school student in class eight.
Now that the serial has gone down well with the viewers, there is pressure on her to maintain the momentum. “A story can go on and on. It is the duty of the writer to make it interesting and exciting for the viewers. Thankfully it has been working till now,” she signs off.
