Younger better on television
If there's one medium where teenagers have truly found their space, it is on television. Neither age nor the long hours have hampered their performance.
A case in point is 21-year-old Soumya Seth, who plays a teenager on the show Navya, “Working on a TV show is actually quite adventurous. Shooting isn’t so hectic that we can’t enjoy ourselves and the cast members are like extended family.”
Actors like Prachi Desai, who was a mere 18 when she starred in a TV show, have to juggle college with their shooting. Soumya says she hasn’t had to do that. “I have just appeared for my final year BCom exams so shooting doesn’t impinge on my academics,” she reveals. “I only had to take a 10-day break once.”
Playing a character close to her age has helped Soumya. “I’m 21, and Navya is 19…so it’s very much like living my own life. Navya loves being home with her family and has a tiny circle of friends. That’s what I am like too,” she says. Soumya recaps an episode where Navya gets into a minor car accident on her first “night out” with friends saying, “That’s something that happened to me too.”
Soumya says the fact that television is now portraying teenagers in a realistic fashion is an encouragement for young actors like her: “By highlighting the big and small issues of teenage life, we wanted to create a better understanding between parents and children.”
Portraying a teenage role model on the small screen means Soumya is frequently asked to articulate the issues that teens have. “I would say that peer pressure, competition and the generation gap between parents and kids are major issues. Then we’re so hooked onto the wired world,” Soumya says, adding that she suffers from a Blackberry addiction.
So what is the way ahead for teens? “You need to find a middle path,” Soumya says. “We have only one life, and we should live it well — but the right guidance is always welcome!”
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