Journalist with acting role in new TV series tells of similarities
PETALING JAYA: There is a greater sense of realism in ntv7’s new investigative series Frontpage than meets the eye.
According to Priyadev Aravind, the actor who plays the role of editor-in-chief, the newsroom setting in the series is similar to how The Star was when he was a reporter.
Priyadev explaining his role in the new ntv7 television series Frontpage.
“When I joined The Star in 1979, we learned to ask hard questions. We never took no for an answer and were also faced with dangerous situations.
“Once my car was almost run off the road by a pursuing palm-oil tanker truck during an investigative assignment. Frontpage mirrors the journalism I experienced,” revealed Priyadev, who is now a sub-editor at The Star.
The TV series, starring Bernie Chan, Tony Eusoff, Jehan Miskin, Nell Ng, Cheryl Samad and Nurakthar Amin, chronicles the lives of a group of investigative reporters working with the top daily newspaper, The Voice.
Frontpage’s selling point lies in its characters and its engaging presentation, scripts of which are derived from real news events over the past 20 years.
“It traces the lives of key journalists, their interactions in and out of the office, their interpersonal relationships, professional relationships and differences in the way they handle things,” said Priyadev, who acted in dramas during his university days in Delhi, India.
He found his role to be simple enough and conceded that even though his acting experience might have been limited it was sufficient to get him by.
“It’s quite straightforward; just memorise your lines and get into your role €“ that’s it,” he said.
Curiously, Priyadev’s character has no name as such €“ he is merely referred to as “chief”.
“Tony Eusoff came up with that,” he said, adding that the character was supposed to have been a “Mr Tan”.
Catch Frontpage every Sunday at 9.45pm on ntv7.
