HYDERABAD: The 7 Acres zone of Annapurna Studios in Hyderabad gets buzzing with activity even on a regular Wednesday afternoon. Over 100 people are running around doing their own thing as the next episode of Drama Juniors Season 3 of Zee Telugu is getting shot. Over 30 kids between 4 to 12 years are in blingy costumes, and some looking like 40-year-old married couples too, for the next episode.
Another group of cameramen are adjusting the lens and filters to get the shot right. The touch-up artists are giving one last brush to the little artists on stage as parents of the wards click pictures of the kids on stage.
However, this day is not an average day at Drama Juniors as there is going to be the elimination round and despite their immense talent, a few are going back home without the opportunity to perform. As the jury – actor Ali, anchors Anasuya Bharadwaj and Omkar pick their pens and grading sheets, host Pradeep Machiraju takes center stage to introduce the little stars.
We catch anchor Anasuya Bharadwaj backstage between the episodes. Her Instagram stories tell us she was on a vacation. “Yes, I was in Maldives with my family in early June and this was a well-deserved one. I tried to be adventurous and tore my ligament. I tried to jump onto a baby island and the ground gave through. So the doctor has advised me rest, but here I am, in the studios wearing stilettos. Well, the life of an anchor! I am now under immense pressure to watch what I eat as I haven’t even been working out. I haven’t slept well and still slightly jet lagged.
Actually, I haven’t got out of the holiday mood,” she confesses. But then aren’t glamour stars like her supposed to get their eight-hours of beauty sleep to look gorgeous for the screens? The mom of two kids says, “I don’t believe in beauty sleep. I believe in beauty time. The time I spend with my husband Sushank and kids energises me. I am like Jaadu, the alien, from Koi Mil Gaya movie. Like Jaadu needs sunlight to survive, I need my family time to get through any challenge in life,” she says. Pranayama, she says, is the next best thing that relaxes her and comes to her rescue when she cannot work out.
A workout junkie and selfie lover, Anasuya was news earlier this year for allegedly being rude to a young kid who asked for a selfie and that she not only declined it, but also smashed the phone in outrage as the kid was invading her privacy. Anasuya says that the whole episode was contorted to make it sound sensational and get clicks on websites and YouTube gossip channels. She says she has a bone to pick with the media. Her name was also included in the US-Tollywood sex racket and she says that was annoying. “I went to the US for a show by Devi Sri Prasad and that was ages ago. Yet, they would put a story and tag my name. I have a healthy sense of humour and I often laugh at myself and at silly jokes. But this #HashtagJournalism is toxic. It should end.”
“I’ve always been blessed to get the media attention, but this one just went out of proportion. I am always approachable and talk to anyone who reaches out to me, yet none of them got in touch with me to get my version. All I can say is that it was a bunch of lies that were spread about me. I got so upset that I went off social media just to get a break from everything. Having said that, I must say that I continue to be the media’s darling. We have a blow hot-blow cold relationship, but eventually ‘Anasuya and media’ cannot do without each other,” she quips. Now that she has made a buzz with her role as Rangamattha in Ram Charan-starrer Rangasthalam, she says she is getting to read seven scripts a month, yet TV remains her first love.
Anasuya says that she is always a little girl at heart and that is the reason she loves doing shows by and for kids. “After I quit TV when I was expecting my second kid, I came back to host Chota Champions on Zee Telugu. My son was 25 days old, yet I could not resist hosting a show that is full of energy and innocence,” she says. Her current gig with the channel is Drama Juniors, a reality show to discover young artistes (Saturday & Sunday 9 pm). She has been with the channel for six years and she says she has consciously opted for shows with kids at the centre stage. “I personally hate eliminations, but it teaches kids to face competition in real life. They are all so talented that I am sure they will find great opportunities to display their talent.”
As she talks to us, her fans take selfies and enquire about her wardrobe. The Drama Juniors jury says she gets her gorgeous sarees from Patna, her marital home. A foodie to the core, she says she loves the Bihari cuisine her mom-in-law makes. Really, she lives with her in-laws? “From the shows I do to the kind of people I live, I think I make good choices. I go with my heart and my heart knows what I want,” she says. With more shows lined up and movies at hand, no wonder she is hailed as the ‘Queen of Good Choices’.
Meet Uma Harmiya
This Class II child from Pithapuram is a student of Bhashyam School and she seems to be the current flavour of Drama Juniors. With offers pouring in from Tollywood, she is known for her comic and emotional roles
Pradeep Machiraju, host
There are about 21 kids and I always add myself to the group. I get nostalgic and become one of them when I host the show. These kids are so young that one cannot imagine them going through all these emotions that they display on stage, yet they imbibe it. They learn from them every day
Jury talk – Buchi Babu (PhD in Theatre), Thiruveer (actor)
After announcing for auditions in media and TV, we conducted an audition across the two Telugu states and over 6,000 kids took the test. They were asked to perform a two-minute act and about 20 children between 4 to 12 were shortlisted. We picked them based on the how they emote, the timing, their ability to mouth dialogues etc.
There are six mentors, all with theatre and TV background. One of us is also a Surabhi artist, another is an aspiring actor. We get to mentor five kids. We help them to learn voice modulation, how to emote for the camera, its angles etc. We have a dedicated team that gives us scripts. We hold two days of rehearsals and then the skits are recorded. As mentors, we discover the strong points of each child and try to give them those roles. We help them give a background of the character and explain the body language. The children are passionate and talented and therefore almost every skit is world class. We really enjoy teaching them as we learn from them again. Some of them are already getting good movie offers.
— Manju Latha Kalanidhi kalanidhi
@newindianexpress.com
@mkalanidhi