In one of English television’s most popular sitcom, Friends which lasted for ten seasons, it had at least 48 famous Hollywood actors who ‘guest starred’ on the comedy soap. The trend of popular film actors making regular appearances on TV for talk shows and reality shows has also been a common thing. Now, movie stars are appearing in a special guest role in TV soaps too.
With more number of soaps on multiple TV networks fighting it out for the highest television rating points (TRP), the producers are leaving no stone unturned to give their audience special treats during the mega launch of a serial and later for joyous occasions or to reveal interesting and important twists in the tale. Bengaluru Chronicle reports on the special appearances from the special stars. Recently, actress Mayuri who started her career on the small screen, with her debut in the popular Kannada TV serial Ashwini Nakshatra, returned to TV for a special role. She was on a mission to spread the message on surrogacy. In fact, her lone TV serial Ashwini Nakshatra marked the TV debut for actor-turned-politician Ramya. The Sandalwood queen Ramya, introduced the main characters of the serial.
Mayuri returned as a guest star in the serial Jojolali — a sentimental journey of happily married couple Madhava and Rukmini who could not have a child of their own. “Mayuri’s entry in the serial was a major turning point to the story, where she reveals the most important twist in the serial. She also talks about educating people about surrogacy while convincing one of the female lead characters in the serial to opt for surrogacy,” says Trishul, the director, while emphasising that though surrogacy exists for a while now, there is a need to spread more awareness about it. “Popular actors speaking about in TV shows, soaps could help the cause on surrogacy and help more people opt for it.”
In Pattedari Pratibha, wherein the female protagonist, a housewife cum private detective solves crime cases, the actor-turned-serial director Naveen Krishna has been roping in several popular actors to play guest roles in it. Meghana Goankar, who started as a host on the small screen and later starred in films, recently made a cameo in one of the episodes, where she played herself.
For the serial Bangari Sandalwood actresses Radhika Pandit, Ragini, Bhavana, Aindrita Ray made special appearances. “This has now become a regular feature with almost every serial featuring celebrities, mainly actors. While some usually make use of lead actors from other popular serials, celebrity actors are roped in to star in big events such as during the launch of a new serial, a wedding scene or other important twists. It is again to popularise the soap and gain more TRP,” says Ananth, a serial technician. With more number of star actors getting involved in the production of TV shows and serials apart from hosting and playing guest roles, expect them more often on the small screen.
