Taking over the small screen

Several mainstream directors of the Kannada film industry have tried their hand at directing television soaps. But for many of them, this is not a step down in their career. In fact, they take it as seriously as mainstream cinema. Recently, both Kavita Lankesh and S Narayan made official announcements about directing serials.

Kavita, who had directed a serial earlier, says that it was the interesting story line that got her into it. “For me, it’s the visual medium that is important. I have always worked on many things like documentaries and short films alongside films but people rarely know about them,” says Kavita, whose serial Nanna Preethiya Shreemathi (‘NPS’) will be telecast soon.

S Narayan too will be returning to the small screen after a long gap with Lakshmi Samsara. The director, who had made a bold statement a few months ago about retiring, says that the serial will give him a refreshing break from other things.

Both the serials concentrate on family drama. Kavita’s ‘NPS’ revolves around two sisters with contrasting personalities. Havoc is created when a rich, spoilt and sadistic man enters their lives. “I wanted to touch upon traditional values as well as contemporary issues that the society faces today. It’s a gripping tale. And what’s even more intriguing in a serial is that we can’t say when the story will take a twist,” adds Kavita.

 Not revealing much about the storyline of his soap, S Narayan states that he is adamant about introducing fresh faces through this. “The protagonist’s role is of a very powerful character and I do not want any known face for the key role. People want to see something different and fresh and that’s what I want to give them,” he adds.

Agrees Kavita, who will also be launching three fresh faces — Anushree, Harshavardhan and Sneha — through her serial as well. “We held a lot of auditions and even head-hunted through social-networking sites. Finally, we got a good team and a very hardworking one as well,” she expresses.

As for looking at this as a step down for directors, Kavita says, “If people like Amitabh Bachchan and Puneeth Rajkumar can come on to the small screen, why can’t we?”