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A ‘Master’ returns
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Former child star Tinku is back in the reckoning after Jodi No 1
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Photo: K. Ananthan
SECOND CHANCE AT SUCCESS Tinku
After a gap of quite a few years, Tinku is again signing autographs. As always, it reads, ‘With love, Master Tinku’. That is Tinku’s way of paying tribute to the industry that made him a star at an age when most kids were learning &
#8216;A B C’.
He started acting when he was two-and-a-half, and did a slew of films till he was 13. Then, he went through a difficult transitory phase that most child actors go through (“I was neither a boy nor a man”). But, he persisted with jobs behind the camera, doing still photography (Devar Magan), editing, music direction, and the like. And, there were niggling issues. “While shooting Devar Magan, Kamal Sir (who knows him from his Jappanil Kalyanaraman days) would ask me to lunch with him. That would irk the other technicians.”
Finally, the big break came with television. Serials such as Kolangal, Lakshmi, Nimmadi and Naanayam happened. And, then came Jodi Number 1, Season Two. There has been no looking back since. He is paired with Preethi, and his dance master Ramash of RAACK Academy of Dance is all praise for him. “He gives rehearsals first priority, and has danced away nearly 10 kg from his once-chubby frame,” says Ramash.
Blushing with all that effusive praise, Tinku simply says: “I have a great partner in Preethi.”
Hard work
So, how does he rate his chances in the contest, where three couples are vying for the top slot? “Well, we have all put in a lot of hard work, and it would be nice if that is recognised,” he says. Preeti and he won the ‘best performers’ title in five of the eight episodes they danced in. The results will be announced this Saturday.
What Tinku values in the programme, other than a chance at the title, is the sudden rush of popularity it has given him. “Even earlier, I had a good name. But, in just four months of the programme, it has doubled.”
Has he ever rued the lack of a good break on the big screen? “No. I am happy with what I have. If I am destined to get a role, it will come knocking.” He acted in two films, Pranayageetham in Malayalam (as yet unreleased) and Jaya in Tamil, before taking a break from the big screen. And, someday, he hopes to direct a film.
Ask him how difficult it was to come to terms with a ‘normal’ life after a decade of being in the spotlight as a child star, and he says: “I did not know anything other than ‘A B C’ till Class VI. And, having a sister (Sonia) who had gone through the same thing helped.”
Even now, she is of great help, he says. “She messages everyone asking them to vote for me in Jodi No 1,” quips Tinku, who was in town for Zen Fest and Carnival organised by Rotary Coimbatore Zenith.
He did enjoy the advantages that came with being a known face. “I never had to wait in line for tickets at a theatre. People would recognise me and ask me how I was long after I stopped looking like ‘Master Tinku’,” he smiles. His advice to the current crop of child actors is to decide early on what they want to do, and work towards it, whether it is in the same industry or a different one.
SUBHA J RAO
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