|
In the realm
of fiction and fantasy, Renuka Shahane has played several roles
ranging from an abandoned wife, a young woman married to an older
man who is a tyrant, a fond bhabhi, a married woman in love with
her ex-beau and so on. These are the roles which showcased the frailties
of woman in various shades which definitely required counselling
to smoothen the rough edges. But then that was fiction and therefore
no solutions to the problems that Renuka went through, be it as
Pooja in Kora Kagaz, Shivani in Sailaab or Sandhya in Khamoshiyaan...Kab
Tak, to name just a few. But now Renuka has turned agony aunt on
‘reality’ TV. She is anchoring Kashmakash, a helpline
for women with problems ranging from marital discord, jealousy,
suspicion, alcoholism, marital rape, child rearing, infidelity etc,
which premiered on Star Plus on January 4.
Of course,
the actress who has made her mark on television as a highly competent
actress who gave one of her best performances in Tejaswini is not
new to anchoring. After all, she anchored the popular cultural magazine
Surabhi for ten long years. "But Surabhi was an altogether
different experience," she smiles. "It was mainly studio-based
where I had to follow the written script." But anchoring Kashmakash,
according to Renuka, is a difficult job. "More than anchoring,
it’s a job of a moderator as every week I talk to experts -
social workers, psychologists, psychotherapists, lawyers, gynaecologists
and so on - about a specific issue or problem which are dramatised
in the first part of the programme. The job is not only to steer
the discussion in a particular direction to provide a better understanding
of the issue, how to handle it and give possible solutions but also
to understand the jargon and technicalities that the experts offer
and translate them into easy language for viewers," elaborates
Renuka.
Being a clinical
psychologist who has studied ‘abnormal’ behaviour in depth,
it’s probably a bit easy job for Renuka to understand the frailties
of human nature and bring a unique combination of compassion and
support to the show. "Yes my PG degree in clinical psychology
does help," she admits. "But it’s difficult to steer
a thought process towards a definite solution and conclusion. The
most important aspect of the show is to understand the issue and
talk about it without an attitude and be conscious of one’s
tone while talking because the key lies in the manner of stating
the opinions or solutions."
Kashmakash
is conceptualised and written by Satya Saran and directed by Maya
Rao. It is not only a relevant show for television but also a welcome
break for Renuka from television’s escapist fare. "I am
tired of doing the roles that I have been doing in serials for more
than a decade," she confesses. "They are escapist, not
relevant to our times and completely out of the social ambit."
Does it mean that she is retiring from serials? "I am definitely
out of long-winding and never-ending serials," she discloses.
"I don’t have any serial on air right now and nothing
is going to come on air in the near future. But I am open to one-off
episodes."
In fact, Renuka
says she has not shot for any serial for the past one-and-half-month
and didn’t miss acting at all. That’s probably because
she is busy writing the script of a film which deals with a social
problem. The story is ready and she is busy writing the scenes and
dialogues. She doesn’t know whether she will be directing the
film for, as she says, "It all depends on the producer."
But what she definitely knows is that for the next one year she
will not do a television serial. "I am taking a break,"
says Renuka who will decide on the future course of her career and
the kind of roles she wants to do after a year.
—AL
Chougule
|
