Features: Magazine | Literary Review | Life | Metro Plus | Open Page | Education Plus | Book Review | Business | SciTech | Friday Review | Cinema Plus | Young World | Property Plus | Quest | Folio |

Riveting drama: Lovelorn

“It’s a dream come true for me to come to India!” she says flashing a dazzling smile, “I love beaches, and in fact, only recently was planning a trip to Goa!”

The Goa festival screened Meltem’s most talked-about film ‘Gonul Yarasi’ or ‘Lovelorn,’ which was Turkey’s most successful film of 2005, and its Oscar-entry last year. It won the artiste the Best Actress prize at the prestigious Palm Springs Festival, and has knocked out audiences wherever it has been screened, from Europe and America to Asia.

At Bangkok, it moved the audience to tears, when Meltem sang the concluding song of the film, at the end of the screening. She sang it again at her press conference in Goa.

Charismatic Meltem is many things rolled into one: singer, radio, stage, TV and film artiste. She recorded a music disc, but after that, decided to focus on her acting.

Currently based in Los Angeles, she has just completed two films in the U.S., ‘The Alphabet Killer’ and ‘A Beautiful Life.’

It is at the Istanbul Film Festival that ‘Lovelorn’ first created waves, and where this writer first met the vivacious actor, who was on the Jury. She says with beguiling simplicity that she is a great fan of Indian films and [its] actresses. “They are so beautiful — I just can’t dance like them,” she exclaims. . She confesses that she will love to do a Bollywood movie, if she gets a chance.

In ‘Lovelorn,’ Meltem plays Dunya, a night club singer, who meets an elderly taxi-driver (played by Sener Sen, Turkey ’s most respected actor),and forms a deep friendship, even as her jealous ex-husband stalks and threatens her. The emotional drama is riveting to watch, and the ending leaves very few people unmoved.

“I was privileged to work with a director who I can only call a genius,” says Meltem, referring to the director of the film, Yavuz Turgil, an icon in Turkish cinema, who has made only six films over two decades that have been recorded in the film-texts of the country. His film ‘Muhsin Bey’ is considered one of the 100 Best Turkish Films of all time.

“When you work with someone like him, you have to surpass your own level,” she states.

“He knows exactly what he wants, and does not compromise.” The result is a love-tale that encapsulates history, philosophy, poetry and emotions with subtlety and strength.

Meltem admits the role called upon all her training and intuition as an actor.

She is presently working on a TV serial with the same director, and is excited about it. The artiste studied theatre at Istanbul ’s Mimar Sinan Varsity, before going to London at the age of 17 to pursue her studies further.

She says that it was not easy, and she had to work very hard to improve her English and polish her accent. Her challenge came, when she did many rehearsal-sessions with the Royal Shakespeare Co, and later, a talk-show for Turkish television, where she interviewed many celebrities.

When she returned to Turkey, Meltem refused the lead role in a film, since she wanted to learn every aspect of her craft. She threw herself into radio, TV, stage, and revelled in all of them.

“It was crazy — all I remember was running from one spot to another!” she exclaims. But she made a strong impact. Her performance in Shakespeare’s ‘Taming of the Shrew’ made it the most successful Shakespeare play to be staged in the country.

But only when the actor started her hugely successful TV programme, ‘The Meltem Cumbul Show’ did she become a household name in her country. She did an array of film roles: comedy, thriller, musical and historical. Her role in the film on the Ottoman King Sultan Hamid, won her the Golden Orange Prize, the Turkish version of an Oscar.

Meanwhile, she did a series of highly successful soap operas, including the 200-episode ‘Fake Lives’ and the phenomenal ‘Yilam Hikayesi,’ which still has the highest rating in Turkish television history.

Her big international break came, when she was selected for the film ‘Head-On’ by German-based Turkish Director Fatih Aiken, which went on to win the Golden Bear at the prestigious Berlin festival.

So, how does the multi-talented actor cope with so many art-forms and activities? “I love what I’m doing” is Meltem’s simple answer. As for the future, she says she is “still learning and discovering.” That’s why, after such a successful acting career in Turkey she has moved to L.A. to take acting-classes from world-famous coaches such as Eric Morris and Susan Batson (the acting coach of Nicole Kidman).

“I took [a] break from work, to feed my hunger,” is her answer. And that is also why she came to India too, “ to feed my hunger about a country I’ve heard so much about, and dreamt so long, about visiting !”

Printer friendly page  
Send this article to Friends by E-Mail