Is Malayalam TV industry becoming a sweatshop for the artistes

Call a TV actor on the phone and you would be lucky if one picks up in the first few rings. Often you get a text, saying, “Busy shooting, will get back”. Getting them for a quick chat feels like asking for the moon indeed, as they are entangled in a plethora of seemingly unending shooting schedules.
It’s no wonder then that recently, lead actors from the Hindi show Aisi Deewangi… Dekhi Nahi Kahi made an exit from the show citing long working hours – as long as 18 hours – and treatment ‘worse than animals’.
So, how is the situation in Malayalam TV industry? Do artistes find it as nerve-wracking and disruptive to their work-life balance. We find out:
Karuthamuthu actor Devendranath Sankaranarayanan points out that unlike the Indian serials, the European and American TV series have episodes between 16 to 24, and each episode might be 40 minutes long or may last upto an hour, and there are mini-series with around three to 10 episodes. “In addition to them, there are daily soaps that take forward a main thread. These are not as popular as the other weekly or mini TV series. Interestingly, Indians have resorted to the less popular variant,” he adds.
The shows abroad also provide conducive atmosphere and apt training to the artistes that will further nourish their creative space and provide quality, he says.
Devendranath is of the opinion that our TV actors are often viewed as second rate actors, which is quite disappointing. “The reason: Amid the hustle and bustle to shoot 22 episodes that are 22 minutes long, the main actors can shoot a maximum of 10 to 14 scenes. The need to make it economical can prompt them to shoot one and an half episodes in a day. So, one can imagine how many hours they will have to shoot. Often, on the sets, we tell each other that we will complete 35 pages by the end of the day,” he says.
According to Biju Sopanam, of the sitcom Uppum Mulakum, says it all boils down to the personal choices and sensibilities. The actor, who comes from Kavalam’s School of Theatre, is of the opinion that patience and perseverance play a pivotal role in an artiste’s life.
“There have been times when we used to dedicate all our time for a stage production, and only after the 10th show is wrapped up, will it be perfect. During the entire time, you cannot shift your focus elsewhere,” he says. “Similarly, being in a serial demand similar virtues, though both have different ways of treating a storyline.”
The actor says that the cast members have the choice to decide which if a particular schedule is feasible for them and then negotiate with the makers. While Uppum Mulakum’s team used to shoot for seven days at a stretch, now they have reduced the number of shooting days by taking into consideration the needs of the actors, he says.
“It has now been brought down to five days, owing to health reasons for me and others too had their own reasons. While the thought of doing away with my character or another actor in an episode was not even in question earlier, it has now become a reality,” Biju says.
So, does it affect their food habits? Since a lot of improvisations are made on the spot, he says that their passion for making each scene better make them enthusiastic, and consequently acting gains priority over breakfast, lunch and dinner.
“We usually try to shoot at least eight scenes. That said, in order to save work in the coming days, we sometimes stretch the scenes to around 10 so that we can make up for the rest of the days,” he says.
Meanwhile, serials Sthreepadham and Seetha have been keeping actress Ambili Devi quite busy. She says there are days when they wrap up work as early as 11 am, while a hectic day would mean shooting from 7 am to 9 pm.
“Like any other job, acting in serials also demands hard work, and if you have passion, nothing will appear to be a stumbling block,” she says. “It all depends on how many scenes you are allotted for a day and the combination scenes you have with other actors. For instance, for Sthreepadham recently, I was asked to come at 4 pm and shooting wrapped up by 8 pm. When there aren’t sufficient episodes at hand, we have to work extra time.”
Ultimately, it is team work, and the so-called strain is not confined to one actor alone, as everyone in the set is working under same conditions, she adds. “Only if the producers benefit, we can sustain ourselves as an artiste and keep our market alive. Even when it comes to days when the work gets over very soon, our wages are not cut, and it is given equal weightage.”
Having her hands full with two serials, she says she has to spend five days for one serial each, and she has the rest of the month all to herself.
Sarayu Mohan, who has also worked in films, says she has had a comfortable atmosphere in small screen. “In my contracts, I have made it very clear that I will work only from 8.30 am to 8.30 pm. Rather than the actors, she says, “It is the technicians who have to bear the brunt, while shooting for long hours. It is worth mentioning that the actors manage to get at least 15 to 20 minutes of rest in between the shots, but the technicians are left with no time to rest. The only instance when I felt held up with work was during the telecast of a serial, which had to be advanced because of some reason. Back then, we had to hurry things up,” she says.
Devendranath too says that the technicians are most hard pressed for time during taxing schedules. “It cannot be denied that all of them are very talented, but this rush leaves them with the least creative space and they end up executing the technical skill rather than their creative skill. Sparks of creativity then becomes a rare thing, thereby affecting the quality of the product. That is also why there is comparatively less freshness among them,” he says.
He highlights that in between prompting and delivering, a lot of things are lost, which lead to less retakes and clear reading of the scripts.
While Sarayu says that striking a work-life balance has been high on her priority list and hence allots her dates accordingly, Devendranath explains that if only the artistes are given enough time to exhibit their creative skills, they could scale up the quality of Indian serials.