DD is now the voice of a brand new audio book in Tamil

We last heard her as the adorable young voice of Anna in the Tamil version of Frozen 2 and she’s currently shooting for a role in Vikram-starrer Dhruva Natchathiram — Dhivyadharshini Neelakandan, more popularly known as DD, is however a familiar face to anyone in Tamil Nadu. She debuted as a television anchor in 1999 as a child anchor for Vijay TV’s Ungal Theerpu and was then seen in K Balachander’s Rekkai Kattiya Manasu on Raj TV in 2003. We then saw her in Radaan Mediaworks’ Selvi (2005), Arasi (2007); and Vikatan Televistas’ Kolangal in 2006.

Since then, we’ve seen her host several shows on Star Vijay including Airtel Super Singer (2012), Koffee with DD (2013) and Anbudan DD (2017) and most recently in Rajiv Menon’s Sarvam Thaala Mayam (2019), where she played the unmissable Anjana, reliving her real life career as a TV host.

DD now takes her career into the brand new world of audio books in her debut as a narrator with Saaradhayin Thandhiram by popular Tamil author Kalki for the Storytel App and we catch up with her to talk about her multi-hued career and more.

How did this audio book come about?
Storytelling is something that I am really passionate about. During this pandemic, I felt people were just spiralling into a not-very-healthy mind space. All we did was wake up, read inane stuff on our phones and social media for hours and went back to sleep. We led lives that were not very different from day to day. As an artiste, I felt I was responsible in some way to create content that could be a healthy distraction and help people get out of this slump. An audio book seemed like the perfect idea and so when I found out about the Storytel app, I approached them and said that I’d like to be a part of it.

Is audio book narration very different from your voice over work?
It’s not too different to do this kind of narrative work, especially since I have already been a VJ and emcee before this. It’s just like different subjects that are part of one curriculum; you just have to tweak your style a bit.

What kind of work are you drawn to?
I think this pandemic has made me realise that I am more at peace with myself once I can put my energies towards helping people around me.

You’re always in the peak of health? What’s your secret?
I am very clear about what I put into my body. I eat on time and I eat clean. I do the basics and stay off sugar and unhealthy food and I have to, because I am on medication. I injured my leg during the first lockdown and so spent most of those months in bed. I am also very particular about what I allow my mind to process. I try and not stay idle and fill my free hours with learning experiences. Either learn a new skill or watch a documentary online — keeping my body and mind busy help me quite a bit.

Saaradhayin Thandhiram is available to download on Storytel.

romal@newindianexpress.com
 @elromal