Nirupam Paritala is a household name in Telugu television on account of his role as Doctor Babu in the serial Kartheeka Deepam. Now, he is thrilled to be playing a cop in the daily serial Radhaku Neevera Pranam which began to be aired on Zee Telugu recently. Directed by Lakshmi Dinesh Painuru, who had earlier helmed T rinayini and Janaki Kala Gana Ledu, the strong point of the reel police story’, Nirupam believes, is its storyline and the emotional arc of characters.
“It is a multi-dimensional character,” he says about his role. Nirupam portrays Karthik Krishna, a strong, resilient police officer with an emotional side hidden from his family. An accident that causes grief to Karthik also turns the life of sketch artist Radhika( played by Gomathi Priya) topsy-turvy Karthik then sets out on a mission to find the person responsible for the trauma.
While the shooting for the serial have been going on in Hyderabad for the past two months, the pilot episodes were shot at Antarvedi, a quaint little town in the Konaseema region of Andhra Pradesh. To don the persona of a fearless cop and silent sufferer, he took inspiration from his favourite actor Suriya’s act in Singam.
Big screen dreams
A native of Vijawayada, Nirupam surprised his parents when he announced his dream to be a movie actor after graduation. Although his (late) father Ohmkar Paritala was an actor-writer, he persuaded his son to complete his post-graduation before trying his luck in tinsel town. Shattered by his father’s demise just a few days before his shift to Hyderabad after he finished his MBA, Nirupam did not initially want to be a part of television, but his father’s friends convinced him to take up Chandramukhi on ETV, his first serial.
Since that serial in 2007, Nirupam has inched his way up to win the hearts of television audiences. An off-screen role as a television producer unexpectedly came up during the shooting of Prema in 2018. He continues his tryst with the company Ohm Entertainments, which is currently producing Pallaki lo Pellikuturu on Star Maa.
“We cannot experiment much with storylines on television, as viewers still enjoy family dramas,” he says. He explains the creative process of being a producer, “At channels, writers’ teams analyse stories to see what works and what doesn’t and suggest changes that can gain TRPs. Channels follow their own strategies, so a story that is disapproved by one channel might get approval from another, but with a few changes suggested by them.”
He acknowledges that the growing competition from streaming platforms has disrupted and ‘snatched away’ a section of the television audience. “Television viewers are loyal but the number is slowly reducing, especially among youth who like OTT shows. However, opportunities for actors are increasing too as some television channels also have their own OTT platforms.”
Is he disappointed that he couldn’t fulfil his dream of being a movie star? “I do feel slightly disappointed sometimes, but when I see strangers appreciating my Doctor Babu role in Kartheeka Deepam — he also did a cameo as Doctor Babu in the film R anga Rango Vaibhavanga — I feel blessed.”Meanwhile, he looks forward to his debut in a Telugu webseries by Vyjayanti Movies.
Radhaku Neevera Pranam airs Monday-Saturday on Zee Telugu at 7.30 pm
