Karthika Nair, lead of upcoming big ticket Star Plus historical fantasy Aarambh, is quite excited about her TV debut.
In a chat with Indianwikimedia, she shares, “After being part of films down South for nine years, this is something different. One of the reasons for staying away from the small screen for so long is that it requires a lot of commitment. And I prefer to work at my own pace, just doing one film a year. Luckily, Aarambh is a finite series, (8 months) plus the pivot character of princess Devasena, simply blew me away. Coming from a film background, getting such a female dominated character is a rarity. ”
So how did she prepare herself for the royal gait? “We did a workshop with my opposite male lead Rajniesh Duggall, who is also a film actor. It was important to look natural in those costumes and get up. Most TV mythos appear fake and thus we needed to hit the nail. Hence, this prep period allowed us to get into the skin of our respective characters,” adds this London School Of Economics grad.
When asked about comparison to Bahubaali’s Devasena, she tells, “You can’t really compare for film role is much more limited, while in TV there is a lot more story to tell.”
FYI, Vijeyandra Prasad, writer of this Aryan vs Dravadian fight saga has also written the above blockbuster movie which has smashed all Box Office records so far.
Karthika during the filming of the show has had a wonderful experience living the life of a princess. She elucidates, “I learnt horse riding and sword fights, etc. But to be honest, it was quite tough enacting those battle sequences while in full jewellery laden costumes, it was much easier during rehearsals in track pants (smiles). Plus all my stunts were real there was no CG, I actually climbed on the trunk of a female elephant. We have also used the crocodile made famous in Hrithik Roshan starrer Mohenjo-Daro as well. We are going to make Aarambh the biggest Indian TV show ever made.”
Mumbai born & bred Karthika’s momwas an actor in the down South having worked in many films on the other side of the Vindhya’s but quit after marriage, “My dad is a hotelier. I got my first south break during my class 10, since then there has been no looking back.”
In an era where fair sells Karthika’s dusky looks proved to be her calling card, “For they needed a dusky girl for the Dravidian look.”
Indianwikimedia wishes Karthika a great sting in Hindi television.