In this undated file photo, India-born Hong Kong comedienne-actor and producer Maitreyi Karanth flashes a smile to her audience during a mask-free comedy gig. (PHOTO PROVIDED TO CHINA DAILY)
With the stage lights out temporarily due to COVID-19 restrictions, India-born Hong Kong comedienne-actor and producer Maitreyi Karanth is seizing the break to assist others and reinvent herself.
Hong Kong’s earlier success in stamping out the coronavirus enabled Maitreyi to finish shooting a movie, witness its successful screening, and conduct her charity work in the city that she she has called home of 20 years, as well as perform in sold-out comedy shows where she sometimes went on stage as a one-woman team.
Hong Kong’s earlier success in stamping out the coronavirus enabled Maitreyi Karanth to finish shooting a movie, witness its successful screening, and conduct her charity work in the city that she she has called home of 20 years, as well as perform in sold-out comedy shows where she sometimes went on stage as a one-woman team
“For the last three years, I have felt very fortunate that we were in a place where everything was amazing and we did whatever we wanted to do,” Maitreyi said.
“We have had that most amazing time already when the world was suffering. So we are just going through the same thing. We’re going to come back in a few months. People who do want to come back will come back.”
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Maitreyi had starred in “My Indian Boyfriend”, which prides itself as “the first ever Indian style movie made in Hong Kong” and was directed by Hong Kong filmmaker Sri Kishore. Other cast members include Gill Mohindepaul Singh, or more popularly known as Q Bobo, a Hong Kong-Indian actor formerly under TVB, and Hong Kong-born Karan Cholia.
The film was shot entirely during the pandemic.
Maitreyi also participated in filming “The Expats”, an upcoming American drama series, which stars Hollywood actress Nicole Kidman, who is also the executive producer of the show.
These days, Maitreyi spends time protecting her fully vaccinated 75-year-old mother, churning out poems, scribbling out her next comedy gig when time permits, and has been giving inspirational talks. She also attends to conference calls to keep her charity work in the Philippines rolling.
She credits her love of helping the Filipinos to her “most amazing helpers” who “were like sisters to me”.
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Today, Maitreyi and her Philippine-based team have helped build 12 homes for the homeless they once helped feed in the slums. Proceeds from her shows have also funded the charity work.
“I constantly put things into perspective because of what I see in the Philippines. Kids are not going to school there and they have no gadgets to study so they are just running around doing nothing. For International Women’s Day, I asked 10 single mothers what would they like and they said rice. Also my helper has not seen her husband or family for three years. So that’s where I get perspective from,” said Maitreyi.
This undated file photo shows Maitreyi Karanth with Hong Kong-Indian actor Q Bobo. (PHOTO PROVIDED TO CHINA DAILY)
Maitreyi herself has not seen her husband, who has been “stuck in Thailand” for two years. But she is grateful to be living in a time when the world is so connected.
Inspired by the transformation she has seen through her charity work in the Philippines, Maitreyi began cooking for the homeless in Hong Kong when the pandemic started. She recalls doing it four days a week, completing 50 to 100 meals cooked at her home and she would also be the one patiently distributing them.
“Eventually I realized other people are doing it as well,” said the actor-comedienne.
“So I decided to reduce it. I had other people saying if you can distribute for us and we’ll cook for you…we used to go to (pick the meals up) and distribute them. We did that a lot”.
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She had also pitch in to cook meals for people in quarantine and recalls distributing them to six hotels in one day. But with this latest wave of infections, Maitreyi said she is “prioritizing home”.
“I think the virus has actually shown us we are all the same," she said. "They tried to contain it. It was only when they could not, they all said this should be the way of life. So everyone tried first, right?”
“I believe this is temporary so it’s all going to come back. Like I said we had sold out shows for a full year. We have to be patient and wait for a few months,” she added.
