Three women rocked the show Save The Tigers, which began streaming last week on Disney+ Hotstar.
Director Teja Kakumanu was spot on with casting and extracting the best from the talents. Season 1 was about frustrated women and harassed husbands.
Deviyani Sharma
In Save The Tigers, Delhi-based actor Deviyani Sharma played a lawyer-activist who is meticulous and thoroughly organised.
She sets the expectations at home, but her mother-in-law who visits her occasionally throws the orderliness to the wind.
Deviyani has a unidimensional character and she plays her role well. She has been doing theatre for the last three-four years and is also a classical dance graduate.
“Other couples had a comic factor to keep people engaged. But ours was serious. I came for an audition to Bhanumati & Ramakrishna (2020) and played a supporting role. But this is my debut as a romantic lead,” she said.
Deviyani Sharma is interested in acting and inclined towards working in the South. Indeed, she has been told that all the big actors come from the South.
Related: ‘Save The Tigers’ web series is a solid entertainer
Recalling her journey, the actor shared: “Post Bhanumati & Ramakrishna, I was getting typecast and being called for similar roles. I declined them. But I knew for sure that I have the potential to bring the best.”
While shooting for another series titled Shaitan (2023), a crime thriller produced by Mahi V Raghav, she was asked to audition for Save The Tigers.
“I was impressed with the story and found the role quite realistic and relatable. It was about having individual space and independence,” she recalled.
Having decided to take up the role as a challenge, she attended a workshop.
“There is no point in doing roles that have no importance. I am a hungry person and love to push my limits. I always look at what I am being offered, and how much of it is adding to the story” the actor pointed out.
Deviyani Sharma believes that OTT is the best platform for actors because it has so much scope that cinema doesn’t offer.
“The next season will be double the fun. I’m open to something that fetches me a good name and keeps me in the eye of people,” she oozed confidence.
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#SaveTheTigers is on FIRE!🔥 Mana tigers ippudu chart toppers, rawrr! 🐯🔝#STTOnHotstar streaming now, Only on @DisneyplusHSTel.@mahivraghav @PradeepAdvaitam @99_chaitu @PriyadarshiPN @AbhinavGomatam @jordarsujatha @pavaniogili @tejakakumanu @vishutheone @arasadaajay… pic.twitter.com/BxJxpOjxXM
— Disney+ Hotstar Telugu (@DisneyPlusHSTel) May 4, 2023
Pavani Gangi Reddy
We have seen Pavani Gangi Reddy in a few films. In Save The Tigers, she plays the doctor-wife to Abhinav Gomatam.
“OTT helps people like me. In movies, men usually bag big roles and women won’t get significance. But here, there is scope to showcase your skills and every character is a hero,” she elucidated.
Pavani Gangi Reddy says she chose the best of what was offered (films) to her. “But then, I realised that I wasn’t getting anywhere with those roles.”
It was then that OTT came up and she was offered a role in Loser (2020). “It was a beautiful and crucial role,” she recollected.
“Also in OTT space, whatever is in the script is shot and retained. But that isn’t the same with cinema. I had a good role in a film but that was chopped. You can never say how much of it will be taken,” she explained.
Related: Director Teja Kakumanu talks about ‘Save The Tiger’ web series
Pavani Gangi Reddy’s role in Save The Tigers is similar to what Raashi Khanna played in World Famous Lover (2020) where the husband develops writer’s block and the wife gets frustrated. But this one is comic.
“In real life, I am a mix of the other two women in the story. I can tolerate things to an extent. But if people cross limits, I don’t like it and make it evident.”
Pavani is an IT professional and claims to be a feminist. “I believe in equality. My friends call me lucky because my husband allows me to act. But that irritates me. Why would I need a man’s permission to act? Would anyone tell this to a male actor? I am an independent woman capable of taking decisions,” she wondered.
Pavani Gangi Reddy admits that she gets hurt when people say that she does “small” roles. “I’m not desperate for roles. I take them up if I like the script. The result would be something else.”
Pavani’s next is Vyuham produced by Annapurna Studios for Amazon Prime. There is another web series with Raja Chembolu and Hebah Patel.
“Now I am busy with Season 2 of Save The Tigers,” she said about her upcoming projects.
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Got a problem? 🤔 Problem edaina Lakshmi e SOLUTION! 👩🔧😎 Ft. @Rohininoni #STTonHotstar streaming now, only on @DisneyplusHSTel.@mahivraghav @PradeepAdvaitam @99_chaitu @PriyadarshiPN @AbhinavGomatam @jordarsujatha @pavaniogili @tejakakumanu @vishutheone @arasadaajay… pic.twitter.com/zCpo9jSSka
— Disney+ Hotstar Telugu (@DisneyPlusHSTel) May 7, 2023
Jordar Sujatha
Jordar Sujatha, from Warangal, worked as a news presenter on V6 (a Telugu news channel) for a year and a half.
She then moved to HMTV (a Telugu news channel) where she’s presenting “Jordar Vaarthalu”, a Telangana-based satirical news programme.
Her Telangana dialect helped her win the hearts of common people and the programme made her popular by the name “Jordar Sujatha”.
Sujatha also participated in Big Boss and Extra Jabardasth.
In Save The Tigers, she plays the wife of Priyadarshi and the mother of two kids. She (her character) wants to live in a gated community and offer corporate education for her children.
“The concept of corporate schools and gated communities is real. The children do pressurise parents to keep up the lifestyle. I’ve seen cases where children of weaker sections feel embarrassed about their parents’ profession. I am glad to showcase that in the show,” the newly-married actor revealed.
Also Read: Priyadarshi selfishly wants to be part of every format of story-telling
Save The Tigers is Jordar Sujatha’s debut show and she says she didn’t leave her job as she isn’t sure of opportunities in the OTT space.
“Director Teja Kakumanu saw my news on TV and asked me to give an audition. The team was all in splits at the audition and roped me in,” she recalled.
Ask her if she runs the risk of being typecast and the news presenter-actor quips: “I will do more roles, be it Telangana or any other dialect. I am an open and transparent person. They gave me a lot of freedom to improvise the lines. They left it to me and it is their greatness.”
Jordar Sujatha noted that what she does is in no way connected to her studies. “My dialect helped me get a livelihood. If I get more roles that demand me to utter dialogues in the Telangana dialect, I will take it up in all humility.”
After watching Save The Tigers, Sujatha’s family told her that there is not much difference between her role and her real-life character. “My husband Rocking Rajesh is the reason for my success. I wouldn’t have done this but for him.”
Is the second season funnier? “What you saw is just a sample. The next will be a laugh riot,” she signed off.
