Actress and broadcaster Kumud Merani makes the community proud playing everyone’s favourite character Manju Sethi at this year’s Logie-nominated drama Five Bedrooms.
I t’s almost surreal to interview Kumud Merani, who is hailed as the mother of all news presenters and broadcasters in Australia. With a career spanning fifty years, starting with being the first news presenter for Mumbai Doordarshan in 1972, she’s been interviewing people all her life – she had once interviewed me.
Now it is my delight to track her achievements as a person and as an artist.
When she moved to Australia with her engineer husband, two-year-old son and six-year-old daughter, she thought she had to give up everything, but she was fortunately mistaken.
As history goes, in 1985, she became the news presenter for World News on SBS for a thriving career, surviving thirty-five years as the executive producer for Hindi programs. She retired just two years ago but she’s just beginning to have fun. 
Kumud is the recipient of about thirty awards. Apart from the several community awards, three were from different NSW premiers, an award from NSW Parliament as a top ethnic broadcaster and journalist, and two prestigious international awards.
She has produced several theatricals, successfully written dramas for radio, staged dramas and translated works from Marathi. Her theatrical career, especially with the English play The Nautch Girls , led her to small roles such as in the 2015 film Unindian (starring Brett lee). But the 2016 short film Spice Sisters , where she played the protagonist, made everyone notice her – including one of the Five Bedrooms writers.
After a successful audition, the character of Manju Sethi was Kumud’s to explore, and she successfully brought the supporting character to life.
A supporting character with a fairly big role, Kumud was in all the seasons except for season three due to COVID lockdowns, as the entire series was shot in Melbourne. Restrictions didn’t permit her to travel from Sydney and the entire script had to be rewritten.
But Manju’s a strong, astute and proud character translated beautifully on screen, playing opposite actor Roy Joseph who plays Kumud’s on-screen son as a doctor. Kumud relates to Manju’s vulnerability and tough love; she says it’s a catharsis for her to say the things that she would never say to people in real life.
Five Bedrooms is Australian drama at its best. People got addicted to it for numerous reasons, especially as it tackles current issues, such as how difficult it is for young people from different socio-economic backgrounds to buy a house.
Kumud says the best scene is in this last season between her and Kat Stewart, who plays Liz in the series. The two of them have fantastic chemistry on-screen and off-screen.
The scene taking the icing, especially the line: ‘ People take a lot to me. It's my natural charisma, my cooking, my conversation and many other things. But in you I feel there's a crying need or there’s something else at play. I can feel it. I don't know whether it's your failed marriage or your loss of money or your profession or your failed marriage but there is a crying need. I can feel it is trying to fill the void in your life through me. And to me that was the best.’ 
Scenes like this have brought Kumud a fan following from Canada and overflowing messages of appreciation for earlier seasons from UK and Sweden. As Five Bedrooms is now shown in five countries and all seasons are available in Paramount Plus.
But Kumud is very humble and realises that this well-written drama is successful because of the talented cast, directors, and scriptwriters.
The taste has been very sweet for Kumud so far; she’s been enjoying the ride with more roles coming her way. It’s all due to the exceptional growth of the Indian community, now the second largest migrant community in Australia based on the last census.
In Australia, Kumud points out that we Indians are cricket tragics and no doubt they also love to watch TV and films. It is time to welcome South Asian people in the mainstream, whether they are born here or migrated just like Kumud. They are hungry to be seen on screen, and in any fields of the arts. It’s the time to be as authentic as possible.
As a person, Kumud is satisfied, and filled with gratitude and grateful to God for getting more than she’s deserved.
From all of us at G’day India , we wish Kumud Merani and the epic cast and crew of Five Bedrooms all the very best for the Logies.
As Robert Frost once said, ‘ The woods are lovely, dark and deep. But I have miles to go before I sleep.’
By Nandita Chakraborty