No Filter: Being a reality show judge has helped Arthi improve her Tamil

Arthi Venkatesh, a city-based model and actress, is now a judge of the reality show Kadhalika Neramilai. Arthi had a lot of plans for her career (as we all do) but to become a reality show judge wasn’t one of them. But you know what they say, never say never. She is clearly having a fun time if her Instagram stories are anything to go by. I caught up with her and she told me that an interview while promoting one of her films, and a guest appearance on a TV channel, led the show makers to rope her in. Never one to shy away from trying new things, Arthi agreed to be part of it. It’s a show where three couples come in every episode and one of them is a fake couple. They take part in games and tasks and it’s up to Sathish, her co-judge and her to figure out who it is. 

She tells me, “It’s a funny, light-hearted show and the whole team is warm and welcoming. The host and Sathish are always making me laugh, they even make fun of my Tamil. My biggest takeaway from this gig is that my Tamil has improved so much and I’m confident speaking the language in front of the camera now. It will definitely come in handy for future projects. I have to thank the crew for taking the time out to correct me when I’m wrong and improving my vocabulary.”

This is definitely true because Arthi was comfortably switching between English and Tamil during our conversation and I was pleasantly surprised. She also told me about some hilarious moments that happened during the shoot and we had a fun time catching up. 

The first episode airs on Sunday, so if you want to put your feet up after a long week and enjoy a light-hearted show that the whole family can watch, this is perfect for you.

When it comes to college life, the most popular stories are of bunking classes and hanging out with friends. Rarely are there memories of a teacher who makes you feel like they are your friend, while they teach and inspire you. Ekta Nahar in her latest avatar is sure to be one of those, as a Guest Faculty at NIFT, where she teaches styling. A little birdie tells me that her classes are always full and students rarely bunk! In fact, they find her approachable, pragmatic and quite ‘chilled out’.  She has taken them for her shoots, as she believes hands-on learning is the best and knowing her, she would have explained the practicality of being a stylist and not just painted a rosy picture. 

Ekta tells me that during one of her bi-annual visits to her alma mater, the dean of the college mentioned that Fibin — the styling faculty who had taught her — had left and suddenly a light bulb went off. The dean too decided that Ekta was perfect for the job. Very stunned, she was taken for a board meeting and introduced to everyone else that day as a guest faculty. Then, there was no mention of it until a formal e-mail arrived in her mailbox a week before the start of the new semester. Recalling her first day, she says, “The security guards at the campus though I was a student trying to prank them and wouldn’t let me park in the faculty parking. I guess I’m quite young for a faculty and look more like a student. That’s also why they all talk to me freely. It’s also a great learning experience for me as they think differently thanks to being exposed to social media from a young age. We didn’t have that when we were studying. Being in NIFT is a brilliant experience and I’m always planning my next lessons and how to make it interesting and engaging,” she says. We’ve all had that one teacher who understood, supported and inspired us. I think Ekta is going to be that teacher for many design students.