Weekend Argus (Saturday Edition)
Rising star Naidu is man of many skills
Although barely in his twenties, he has a multitude of experiences under his belt
TEVIN Naidu is a multi-discipline man: model, traditional musician, medical student and TV presenter.
All this at 21 years of age. He’s also a far way from his home in Sydenham, Durban. This is his fifth year of medicine at Stellenbosch University at Tygerberg Hospital.
Although he won’t admit it, he has big shoes to fill.
Last year the SABC shut down its long-running Indian lifestyle show Eastern Mosaic, which had been hosted by Candice Moodley and Imraan Vagar.
Naidu, a former Mr India South Africa, stepped in to Eastern Mosaic in March and later made the transition to its replacement, Mela.
The new show’s title is a Sanskrit word meaning gathering and is used throughout the Indian diaspora and in Desi culture to refer to events or festivities.
Naidu says Mela is a new show, in a new time slot, with new presenters, new content and a new feel.
They do their studio shoots in Franschhoek.
At an interview this week, Naidu looked a bit different to what you would imagine: not the squeaky-clean, wholesome man in a suit; but rather a relaxed lad with piercings in a rolled up shirt revealing a sleeve tattoo.
We start chatting about his name. He’s 21; Tevin Campbell was a big deal 20 years ago: was he named after the RnB singer?
“I think so. My cousin named me.”
He came to Cape Town was for academic reasons. After being accepted for medicine at three universities, he chose Stellenbosch.
“I chose Stellenbosch because of the work ethic you get. From your second year, you’re doing practicals. That experience is important,” he says.
Linguistically, it has been a bit challenging but the course is duallanguage.
After being crowned Mr India South Africa in 2011 he told Durban newspaper The Post he wanted to be a neurosurgeon. That is not the case anymore. He wants to land a role in the vein of Michael Mol or Riaad Moosa.
His journey into television began with Jo-Ann Strauss’s Online Presenter Search in 2012. He made the final four of that competition and flew to Reunion with Strauss to learn the ins and outs of the presenting hustle.
His video went online and that’s where Eastern Mosaic spotted him.
Less than a year later he was on set with Red Carpet Productions, which is owned by Saira Essa and Mark Corlett. The long-time producers of Eastern Mosaic are also the team behind Mela.
“Now I don’t feel like I’m filling the shoes of Imraan Vagar. We are new men on the show. You can’t replace Imraan. I’m sad it’s over.”
Presenting Eastern Mosaic and Mela put him in shoots with people he grew up watching. Long-time presenter Jailoshini Naidoo was next to him on set.
“It felt surreal. I knew Jailoshini professionally. It’s been better than I expected.”
Naidu was sitting on a secret last year: he knew that Eastern Mosaic was going to end.
The sort of inserts he would shoot for Mela include drifting and The Color Run in Durban, which he counts among his favourites.
It must be a juggle though. Presenting Mela takes up varying amounts of time in his schedule.
“With studio shoots we can do five in one day. Field shoots are more stressful. You can be in the sun, all sweaty and in your make-up.”
Naidu is based in Cape Town but one would think that most of Mela’s content would be shot in Durban and Joburg.
“We have a lot of features that come from Cape Town and Joburg. There are many Indians in Cape Town. Some come to study here and stay on.”
He is among three Cape Townbased Mela presenters, with Mishal Mookrey and Farrah Mia. Zakeeya Patel does Joburg and Jailoshini Naidoo and Kajal Bagwandeen do Durban.
“We shoot the Cape Town Diwali Festival, the kite festival. There is Indian culture here. I go to temple in Rylands. Maybe there is not as much as Durban but the cultures are very different.”
In a South Africa where raceand culturally- defined media is apparently in decline, the question of whether a show like Mela is worth it, must be asked.
“It is. We have shows that show Afrikaans culture. If you look at our viewership, the majority of the viewers are not Indian.”
Amid the whirl of medicine and presenting, Naidu finds time for his favourite instrument, the tabla: an Indian percussion instrument he has been playing since childhood.
He plays it professionally and has even won national competitions. “I used to take part in eisteddfods. I started when I was nine. I love every moment of it. I used to lead Bhajans (Hindu spiri- tual songs). I used to dance, everything from village dancing to modern.”
He does admit his Tamil is a bit rusty though.
Behind all of this is a playful young man. He’s proud of his tattoos. Viewers had a peek at them when he covered The Color Run and wore a short-sleeved T-shirt. Generally, he doesn’t show them on screen and he removes his piercings.
He likes partying at Club 31 on the top floor of the Absa building in town and at Shimmy but doesn’t mind a night in with friends.
As for modelling, you may see him at a fashion week or two this year.
● Follow Naidu at @TevinNaidu on Twitter and watch Mela on Sundays at 1.30pm on SABC2.
wendyl.martin@inl.co.za