It is a popular reality show in Kannada, which features noted personalities from across various sections of the society for their exemplary works in their own respective field. Weekend with Ramesh which is back with its fourth edition showcasing to its audience the personalities, mostly celebrities as they revisit their life’s journey in a meaningful way. Along with it, returns one of the most truly versatile actor, director and producer Ramesh Aravind as its favourite host.
So far, he has hosted the show featuring at least 65 personalities since the last three season of the shows which included the who's who from the film industry, politicians and also some of the amazing talents who have led inspiring lives.
As the fourth season is set to kick-start from this weekend on Zee Kannada with a special guest, Veerendra Heggade, a philanthropist and the hereditary administrator/ Dharmadhikari of the Dharmasthala Temple, Ramesh Aravind shares his journey on the show and some of his most memorable moments from it and more.
“It has been an incredible journey on the show, which has also given me a fresh lease of life with a whole new direction to my career. The audience started connecting with me following the huge success of Weekend with Ramesh. In fact, I started to think twice about the kind of films I was doing prior to the show. It feels nice when I receive a similar kind of appreciation which I earned after working in films like America America and Nammoora Mandara Hoove,” says Ramesh Aravind.
Apart from a series of films in leading roles, the actor recently turned producer for Nandini tele-serial. He is even directing the remake of Queen in Kannada as Butterfly which stars Parul Yadav in the role reprised by Kangana Ranaut in the original. Ramesh will also be seen as a detective in Shivaji Surathkal.
Back to his show, he shares that every guest is unique as their works speaks volumes about them in person. “The credit goes to the entire team for such an extensive work and putting everything in place to revisit their entire personal journey and to exhibit it in front of them in less than one and a half hour. It is not just about the celebrities but those episodes featuring the commoners especially that of differently abled persons were truly heart touching ones,” he adds.
Ask him about his most challenging time on the show, he reveals that it was while featuring former prime minister H D Deve Gowda for whom he had to shoot for over 12 hours. “Mr Devegowda is a huge personality and one thing I liked about him is his memory power, as he recalls everything like a computer. I stood for over 12 hours before we wrapped it up.”
About some of the most celebrated sporting personalities such as Rahul Dravid, Anil Kumble, and Javagal Srinath who are yet to make it to the show, the makers reveal that they have been trying to get them since the first season with letter communications but unfortunately they have been humbly refusing it everytime.
Insofar as film actors are engaging in small screen programmes and shows, for which they have been constantly accused of affecting the performances of films in theatres, Ramesh Aravind concludes by saying that he does not believe that popular actors working for TV shows would affect movies in theatres. “They should rather think in terms of making good quality movies for the audience than unfairly accusing actors for working in television. I have witnessed that if there is a real good movie in the theatres, audience will watch it even during IPL season,” he signs off.
