A 'Ram'ble in the telly bronx

The popular “Nandini” on the small screen, Nithya Ram is on a path to achieve greater heights. While the Kannada audience loves her, she has attained fame in Tamil, Telugu, and Malayalam as well, as the mega serial Nandini is being telecast in all four south Indian languages. Nithya has so far acted in atleast five Kannada TV soaps, two in Tamil and Telugu, along with a Kannada movie Muddu Manase released two years ago, and she is also judging a reality talent show for children Asathal Chutties in Tamil. The actress is the elder sister of popular Kannada film actress Rachitha Ram. Nithya talks about her TV ventures, film offers, her sister and more.

“At present, I have been shooting Nandini, which is one of the most popular ongoing mega serials made in four south Indian languages — Kannada, Tamil, Telugu and Malayalam. It is being produced on a grand scale with several veterans and popular actors working in it. It is being shot in Tamil, and re-shot in Kannada, and for Telugu and Malayalam audiences, the serial is being dubbed. Apart from that, I am one of the judges for a children’s talent show in Tamil too,” says Nithya.

As the eldest daughter, the actress feels that it was not easy to convince her father about her choice of acting as a profession. “I always wanted to become an actress and work in films. I kept getting offers pretty early while studying but my parents insisted that I should first complete my graduation. However, when I got an offer to work in serials, I convinced my father to atleast work in TV. I managed both studies and acting, and my first serial led to another. I kept following my passion. I aspired to be a film actress but after working in several popular serials, the track changed and TV me busy. I did my first Kannada film Muddu Manase and my work was appreciated. Now with Nandini which is telecast in four languages, I am getting so many offers but I have many commitments therefore I am unable to take up new films,” she says, as 25 days a month are completely dedicated to the mega serial. “With just this project, I am somehow managing to travel from Bengaluru, which would be difficult with another project. I had no knowledge of Tamil, and within eight months of shooting in Tamil, I can now speak it fluently,” Nithya adds,

Her first Kannada serials were Benkiyalli Aralida Hoovu, Rajakumari, Manedevru, Karpoorada Gombe and much more including other languages. The actress with a degree in biotechnology wants to continue studying but acting commitments have so far kept her away from studies. She was in the news recently when she received obscene messages on her Facebook account from a stranger and took action against the miscreants. While she is not regular on social networking sites, and uses them to connect with the audience, she adds, “I get a lot of wishes and positive comments, and of the thousands, there are always one of two miscreants who do such things. I could have neglected it, but I had to give a stern warning. Later, they apologised.” Eager to share the screen space with her sister Rachitha Ram, she hopes, “I am waiting for an offer with a good script where we both can work together in a film,” she signs off.