In the ever-changing world of Tamil TV entertainment, there is something that has not changed one bit – Radikaa Sarathkumar’s undisputed stardom. Over the decades, families have adored her, and they follow her from serial to serial, seated in their living rooms, eyes glued on to the TV set, entrenched in the drama playing out on the small screen. Her acting skills are a huge draw of course, but her fandom mostly appreciates her for being that confident, smart and self-made woman she is in her serials, inspiring loads of women, evening after evening.
Since her smash hit show, Chithi, years ago on Sun TV, Radikaa Sarathkumar has done 6 long-running television shows and her last, Vani Rani, in which she played two identical sisters diametrically opposite in character, wound down after six years last Saturday.
Back with a bang
Now, Radikaa Sarathkumar will be back on the small screen, in the same time slot, as Chandrakumari . If Vani Rani was tough and demanding with dual roles, how challenging will the new serial that began showing on the small screen on Monday evening be, with seven roles across seven generations? No small measures for her, at any rate.
“I play 7 roles. Unlike Vani Rani , they do not run simultaneously but I play roles in seven different births.” The story goes back and forth – about how our previous 7 lives are connected. The epic portions are being done by renowned director Suresh Krissna in all four South Indian languages. We have shot directly in Kannada. It is one of the biggest shows in the South, even in terms of budget.”
Tough 6 years
How have the last 6 years been for Radikaa? “ Vani Rani went on for 6 years. It was tough, like running a huge marathon. To do a dual role in television simultaneously, you need to have speed. It was quite challenging. It took a lot of energy…,” she says.
Radikaa says that playing Chandrakumari has proven to be much more of a challenge. “This is a social fantasy with a lot of visual effects…The ‘epic’ portions, which all look nice…but to get it right, it takes humongous effort,” she says, taking a few minutes off her shooting schedule.
She's in a pressed white with blue border saree, seated just outside the prison sets of her new serial at the MGR Film City.
Will Chandrakumari also run for as long as her other television serials? “Hopefully this won’t run for 6 years. It is a very tight-knit script and I am going to be very faithful to it,” she says.
Core audience intact
Despite the growing popularity of video-streaming platforms such as Netflix, Amazon Prime and others, Radikaa feels that it has not really touched her core serial watchers at all.
“It is a different audience and I don’t think their audience is the regular TV-watching audience. May be, over the years, it will be moving onto more personalised watching,” the actor opines.
Informing that Vani Rani will continue on exclusive video streaming platforms, she underlines the need for an evolution in writing for the small screen. “Writing in television has to get better. There is a huge lacuna. We have to think about how to narrate a scene. It has not evolved much,” she says.
Way forward
Does she foresee a future where successful actors and film-makers will be enticed to the small screen as well? “Some of the directors are interested. I think we just have to set it up for them,” she says.
It turns out that Radikaa, who has spent a large portion of her life on the screen, is a mega fan of the recent wave of feature films in Tamil cinema.
“I liked Pariyerum Perumal and most of the films that came along with it, Kolamavu Kokila , Ratsasan …they were very well done, interesting and kept you engaged. The big films didn’t do it – I won’t tell you the name of the film – but I walked out.”
#MeToo movement
As one of the most well-known actors in Tamil Nadu, what does she feel about the #MeToo movement and its aftermath?
“MeToo movement gives voice to women. The predators will also be scared. But, men being predators have been there since time immemorial. In my career, of course….people sometimes have acted funny. I have dealt with it and not let it bog me down or hinder my growth,” she says.
Does she think that women taking up leadership positions will bring down cases of sexual harassment? Radikaa agrees, “I remember there was one guy on my sets who adjusted the blouse of a girl [without her consent] and she was shocked. I threw him out. We have to act immediately."
By then, the rest of the cast and crew have trooped back into the dimly-lit confines of the faux prison they are shooting in, after lunch break. But they tip toe around here, where she is sitting, almost reverentially. Here, clearly, where she has reigned for years, she calls all the shots.
