New kids on the block

Telly Belly

Playing the main leads on TV shows is no more an adult domain. On the other hand it is child actors attracting TRPs

Television has always been an area to showcase and promote talent whether you are a child actor or an adult. However, just like in advertisements, which rely on children to drive the message across, we have seen a surge of child actors in main/lead roles on various shows.Carrying an entire show on his shoulder, playing the title role of ‘Chakravarti Ashoka Samrat’ in the serial of the same name is teenager Siddharth Nigam originally from Allahabad. Siddharth’s acting skills and looks are already being talked about, but that is not something new for him.

He started his career with ad-films and has already made his film debut in 2013 as the young Aamir Khan in Dhoom 3. He also appeared as the young Rudra in Life Ok’s ‘Mahakumbh’ before he took up the role of the young Samrat Ashoka. Life has not been an easy ride for 15-year-old Siddharth who lost his father at a young age leaving his mother to take of him and his elder brother.

Just like in the show, in real life too, Siddharth claims being very close to his mother who single-handedly takes care of him and his brother. She was also a big support for him when he had to train in horse riding (he had a big fear of horses, otherwise), sword fighting, Hindi and Sanskrit diction for almost three months along with reading to prepare for his role as Ashoka. A National level gymnast, Siddharth’s ambition in life is not only to pursue acting but to win an Olympic gold medal for the country.

11-year-old Gracy Goswami is a find of ‘India’s Best Dramebaaz’, which was a talent search reality show for children. Gracy, who has just entered as the new child bride, Nimboli in ‘Balika Vadhu’ has earlier done ‘Bandhan’ where she was seen in a negative character. ‘Balika Vadhu’ has taken an eleven year leap and we see Gracy as the daughter of the original child bride Anandi, who delivers twins, but of the kids, Nimboli is kidnapped and missing. Gracy who claims to have watched the show for the past two years is well prepared for her role and knows what is expected of her, which is luckily of the same age as hers. Her innocent smile lights up her face and is an asset that she uses well. A good student at school, Gracy studies during free time on sets and plans to be an actress and a doctor too when she grows up.

Playing Gracy’s husband Kundan in ‘Balika Vadhu’ is Sparsh Srivastav who was earlier seen in ‘Mahakumbh’ on Life OK. Coming from Rajasthan, Sparsh had no problems getting into the Rajasthani character. He also says that he is as close to his parents as Kundan is shown to be in the show. However, while he is shown as being rude and harsh on his on-screen child bride Nimboli, in real life Sparsh claims that he likes to treat girls with respect. Trained in various dance forms, he was the winner of ‘Chak Dhoom Dhoom’ the dance reality show for kids and was earlier seen in Disney’s ‘Shake it up’.

The first week of March saw the launch of a new show ‘Gangaa’ on Zee TV’s new entertainment channel &tv. Playing the title role of the child widow is 9-year-old Ruhana Khanna who started her acting career at the tender age of 4 with a fashion show and then went on to do print and TV commercials. She was also seen in an episode of ‘Savdhaan India’ and is at present concentrating on being ‘Gangaa’ and at the same time studying on the sets. Ruhana has big dreams and is already talking about working with big names in Bollywood.