Spirit behind the scenes

Television serials have become an extended part of people’s lives. Whenever Tulsi of Kyunki Saas Bhi Kabhi Bahu thi or Kusuma of Kunkuma Bhagya cried, along with them, women folk sitting in front of their TV sets also cried.

The people responsible for creating such convincing scenes are a group of 17 to 18 men working tirelessly behind the camera lens — the directors, assistant directors, make-up boys, camera men, story writers along with other minor characters in the serial.

Metrolife spoke to few people behind the scenes involved in the making of a serials regarding the challenges, and the fun they have while creating a family drama.
Daily soaps and films have many things in common but the main difference in the serials is that they do not revolve around just two characters — the hero and heroine.
“Here the story is the main element, and every character contributes significantly to the plot,” said Sundarshree, a leading character artiste.
“We live a dual life. One on the screen and the other in real life. At times, we are so engrossed in the character that even after shooting hours we feel the character running though our veins,” said Siddharaj Klyankar, one of the veteran artistes of Kannada serials.

The directors of the serials feel that they have a greater chance of making the audience understand the subject clearly as they don't have a time constraint. “Unlike films, I need not complete the whole topic in just two and half hours. I can use technology and artistes’ expressions to make viewers understand what is happening,” said Vinu Balanja, director of Jogula, one of the leading TV serials on Zee Kannada.     
“Moreover, I have the liberty of adding incidents to my serial as and when they happen in real life, which gain greater acceptance among viewers,” he added.
The greatest challenge for the producer and director is to maintain the unit together. “We cannot lose any team member at any point of time. We have to be like a family,” said K Eshwarswamy, a co-director with a leading production house.
The artistes and the production department feel that by working together for a long time they build a relationship of their own.

“We live like a family here and enjoy every moment,” said Vinu.  The action-camera man had a different version to give: “Money is not important for us, our work has to be recognised and enjoyed by people,” said A N Prabhakar, a camera man.
“I head a team of 14 to 15 members, who help me with lighting, sound and camera. They are the most important persons for me,” he added.
According to the actors and production houses, the greatest thing they achieve through serials is the fact that people start relating to the characters more than they do in the films.

The unit also feels that there is a great responsibility to ensure that no wrong messages are sent.
“Whenever a negative character is created, we see that there is a greater positive force against it so that people do not get  wrong information from the character,” said Siddharaj, quoting the character Nanjunda from the serial Muktha that was telecast on E-TV Kannada.