News anchors sprout in films

Playing the role of a news host is not really an easy job. News anchors are destined to spread the essential vibrations during the show and there have been many anchors known for their best work in Tamil television.

Rangaraj Pandey, a journalist who quit his job in a leading Tamil news channel and ventured into films is a case in point. He was seen as a lawyer in Ajith's film, Nerkonda Paarvai, which released earlier this year. The actor is also in talks for a Rajinikath-Siva project, bankrolled by Sun Pictures. Sources claim that the journalist-turned-actor has been approached by the top producers of K-town for their films, but the actor is yet to give them a green signal.

It's not just Pandey, several other actors including Priya Bhavani Shankar, Anita Sampath, Sharanya Turadi Sundaraj and senior anchors like and Sujatha Babu are in the limelight after a promising career as news anchors. "News anchors are breaking the stigma with their silver screen appearances. The fame and the experience we gain are really useful to face the movie audiences as well. In my case, I acted in a short film named Manohari, which resulted in the opportunity to act the mother of Ashok Selvan's in the movie Oh My Kadavule," says Sujatha Babu, senior news anchors for the past 20 years. She also acted with actor Vijay Sethupathi in a movie, yet to hit the theatres.  Apart from that, Sujatha has a bunch of movies in her kitty.

Young anchors like Priya Bhavani Shankar got accolades for performance in films like Meyaadha Maan, Monster andKadaikutty Singam through which she got an opportunity to work with Kamal Haasan and Shankar in Indian 2.  Similarly, Anita Sampath, news anchor of a popular TV channel was also cast in movies Sarkar, 2.O, Kaala and Kaapan.

"Anyone can do any job they want to do in life, it is all about multi-tasking in this modern era. It is the same for Television artistes like us. We cannot keep walking on the same platform until we retire. There should some progress in our career and acting in films is the reason for that," interprets Sharanya Turadi Sundaraj who worked in films Chennai Ungalai Anbudan Varaverkirathu and Aayiram Muthangaludan Thenmozhi.

It is evident that TV news anchors are not just talented but are also immensely popular! While we often wonder why they are a part of Kollywood, they mesmerise us through their phenomenal work in their movies.