They form the multi-tasking brigade from Technopark. When they aren't in their respective cubicles, they double up as VJs, emcees or anchorpersons. Rekha Menon, Rajesh Kesav, Surya S. Nair, Deepa Rahul Easwar and Gayathri Govind are just some of the techies on the small screen.
If “TV is a weekend passion” for Rekha, Head, Media Relations and PR (Asia), UST Global, “career comes first” for Deepa, senior HR executive with Artin Dynamics. Surya, working with a multinational insurance company, is “enjoying every bit of what I do,” having been in the limelight since she was in class three. For Rajesh, also working with a multinational firm in Technopark, it is about “making optimum utilisation of the time available to him.”
Not a stress-buster
It is a passion and not a means to unwind, they say. Rekha, the livewire anchor that she is, has a long career in television behind her, starting with the history-making Family Tele Quiz on Asianet. “I stepped in as a replacement and it really changed my life. It has been a fulfilling journey, mainly because I have been selective about the programmes, have had tremendous support from my company and, of course, my family. The advantage of being in the field is that you get to interact with a lot of people, which really complements my job,” says Rekha.
Anchor of the show
Deepa, who has had successful stints with Kairali TV (mainly as anchor of a music reality show Gandharvasangeetham ), has been in the field for 10 years now. These days, owing to the nature of her job, she opts for anchoring stage shows/events instead of television programmes, recent ones being the much-publicised inauguration of Emmanuel Silks showrooms in Kochi and and Kottayam.
Rajesh has no qualms about flaunting the list of celebrities he has interviewed such as Amitabh Bachchan, Shah Rukh Khan, Vijay, Vikram and so on.
“In Kerala, a television anchor has got little to do compared to his/her counterparts in the North. That's why I started focussing on interviews,” says Rajesh who has done programmes only on Asianet, besides anchoring a host of film award functions. His ambition is to become an actor and has done a cameo in V.K. Prakash's Beautiful .
Surya, mother of five-year-old Advika, has had an on-and-off tryst with the entertainment industry. She is a VJ (anchor of Projector on Amrita TV), an RJ (for Joy Alukkas' internet radio) a dubbing artiste (currently dubbing for the serials Autograph on Asianet and Maanasaveena on Mazhavil Manorama) and an emcee. A Kerala State Award winning dubbing artiste (for Made in USA ), Surya considers herself lucky to have reached this far.
“The best part is, though I'm not fully into it, I've been getting good work,” she says.
Gayathri Govind, working with NeST, has taken a break from anchoring for the time being to focus more on her career in dance. She has anchored shows on Asianet Plus, Asianet News, ACV and Kairali.
