As a child artiste, she featured in a couple of tele-serials which included Sindhoora and Ratnagiri Rahasya, but soon her interest swayed towards dance, following which she started learning various forms of classical dance, mainly Bharatanatyam. It was only when she won an award for her performance in a school drama during her 10th standard, that she desired to become an actress. It took a lot of patience and perseverance before finally making it in the world of television. Actress Meghana S. Shankarappa, who started as an anchor for a couple of television shows, is now one of the prettiest vamps on Kannada television. In Kinnari on Colors Kannada, she plays the role of the pretty vamp Nithya, and her latest avatar on Star Suvarna for Krishna Tulasi, sees her portray another antagonist’s role — Chitra. She speaks to Bengaluru Chronicle about her telly journey and more.
“Though I am just two tele-serials old, juggling between Krishna Tulasi and Kinnari, I am having a great time with the kind of recognition I am getting after all the hard work I have put in before making my television debut. It is the audience whose appreciation propels me to give my best as an artiste,” says Meghana S. Shankarappa.
In fact, the actress reveals that though she started off with the character Nithya in Kinnari, which was a second lead, the role eventually was twisted to a vampish one. “In tele-serials, the plot keeps changing. I actually disliked playing a negative role as the audience, mainly the ones who get involved with the serials, curse such negative roles. And, when I got a call from Star Suvarna and was told about a similar negative nuanced role, I was skeptical about it. But, as they say, when performance matters the most, as an artiste it is always about challenging oneself,” she adds.
However, her entry onto the small screen was not smooth. “Ever since I thought of seriously taking up acting as a career, I auditioned for every possible show and programme. I would bunk classes during my plus two. It was only when I was asked to get a degree, I did my BBM. It took at least four to five years before I finally made it as an anchor for a television awards function and that lasted for a few months before I got my first break in Kinnari.”
About Krishna Tulasi, Meghana shares that despite essaying another negative character, it was a challenging role that got her great prominence.
“In between, I did get a couple of movie offers in Tamil and Kannada but with my current situation completely dedicated to the two serials, I couldn’t take up any. I will definitely do movies but not the regular glamorous ones. I even did theatre but with a busy time schedule, I am not able to give it time,” she says, before heading for a shoot.
