Malice and laughter...on the same platter

There is a little malice in all of us...that doesn't necessarily make us bad! But on television, malice seems takes altogether a different form!

Twitching eyebrows, lipsticks in colours all shades of the rainbow, words that make you squirm in your seats and sarees that glitter even in the dark, television's naughty ladies have a way to make their presence felt, and why not? They drive TRPs and make the so called sati savitris look even saintlier.

But there is another side to this story. The ladies, responsible thus far for making our favourite bahus cry, now have taken on the task of keeping us in splits! This is not easy --- to hop, skip and jump from one set to the other, from one emotion to the other and, above all, to change from being mean and manipulative to being chirpy and loudmouth...quite a challenge, we say!

But many actresses have done this with lan. Watch Rupali Ganguly in Star One's Sarabhai vs Sarabhai and you will forget that this mumbling dimwit was Sanjivani's conniving Simran. Where Monisha is anything but classy, Simran stands out because she oozes venom, but with a certain degree of class. One twitches her eyebrows while planning something deadly, the other raises her eyebrows even if she has to pay 50 paise more --- quite a role reversal.

"I was really shocked when I was offered this role in Sarabhai…I told them that you have got the wrong person. Here I was this super bitch in Sanjivani, and suddenly I had to play this sweet simple person with no problems in life except the rising prices," laughs Rupali.

Vamps they are, but they are a class apart. They manage to mouth dialogues that are so high on melodrama that it takes a brilliant artiste to pull it off! Imagine a Pallavi in Kahaani, spending her whole lifetime avenging a wrong done to her, being bad and mean all the time... "I had to convince myself to do the character, but only initially. While I was doing the show I was very happy. But you know, every individual evolves in real life, and I wish that characters on television would evolve as well!" says Shweta Kawatra, who quit the show some time back and is now doing a comedy play with Paritosh Painter, Uncle Samjha Karo.

"Doing a comedy is tough. You have to have a sense of comic timing, otherwise sab phus ho jata hai!" laughs Shweta, who seems excited about her play.

Remember the 'other woman' in Kanwaljeet's life in Star Plus' Saans? The strong willed, smart woman who makes Neena Gupta's life miserable? Kavita Kapoor for long was slotted as this 'independent woman-who-is-negative' mould. When Kittie Party too didn't do anything to break this, the lady did a complete volte face and took on Yess Boss and LOC. This lady has quite brilliantly transformed herself from a cool sophisticated woman to a village belle, who lands up in London in Star Plus' LOC.

The condition of television is such that meek, submissive women are considered to be sati savitri types while the independent and strong woman is the vamp. This is like stereotyping a character to be either good or bad. My character in LOC is over the top and loud, but it fits into the situation. It is good fun to do it. Moreover, I am a fun loving person and I identify with it," says Kavita.

Perhaps being loud and melodramatic seems to be the in thing as far as television is concerned. Be it a black, white or grey character, they all seem to be too loud and over the top.

Subtlety in comedy seldom gets appreciated, and perhaps that is why these actresses play such an important role in the success of these serials.

A Rajshree bua in Ye Meri Life Hai, might not take the plot forward, but Tanaaz's comic timing was the USP of Zaban Sabhal ke. It would have fallen apart, if not for her clever repartees and body language, along with the wonderful chemistry she shared with the other actors that made all the difference to the show. "Comedy comes naturally to me. I love to make people laugh. Doing the role in YMLH was a nice change as it made me get out of the rut," says Tanaaz.

This is not all, one thing that all these actresses have in common is the ability to emote comic sensibilities with ease. They do not have to prepare for their parts and that s the reason why their performances strike a chord with the audience.

"It all depends on the script," says Kavita, while Rupali says, "I go to the sets with a blank mind. My writer and director guide me and I do the needful." This is one thing that Poornima aka Sheetal of Ye Meri Life hai agrees with. "It's all about timing. We do lot of rehearsals and that really helps," says Sheetal, who essays a comic role in Star One's Sarabhai vs Sarabhai.

Do actresses playing negative characters make better comic actresses? Do women who make no bones about their mean streak, have a whacky streak in them too?

Whatever the case, they are surely fine actresses...from the inane to the whacked out...they have explored both extremes!