Das DD is first Indian nominated for his performance at Star Awards
As the host of Mediacorp’s online entertainment programme #JustSwipeLah (2021 to present), Dharmadasa D Dharamahsena, who goes by Das DD, was privy to the Star Awards nominations two weeks before they were announced on Feb 15.
The 33-year-old, formerly of YouTube outfit Night Owl Cinematics (NOC), signed a non-disclosure agreement so that he and his co-hosts Juin Teh, Seow Sin Nee and Jernelle Oh could discuss the nominees this year in a pre-recorded episode.
What he did not know at the time was that the cast kept his own nomination in the new performance category Best Rising Star a secret, revealing it only when the cameras were rolling.
“This better not be a joke,” he exclaims in disbelief on the episode, when both he and co-host Oh were informed of their nomination. The category, where the outcome will be decided by a panel of judges, is also contended by Jarrell Huang, Kiki Lim and Joey Pink.
In a phone interview with The Straits Times, he says: “It was not in the script at all. And it wasn’t something I was hopeful for. I’m not a Mediacorp artiste and I didn’t even know that you could be nominated for hosting an online variety series.”
Das is the first Indian to be nominated in any performance-based category in the 28-year history of the Star Awards. Gurmit Singh, the only other actor of Indian descent to be nominated at the Star Awards, has several Top 10 Most Popular Male Artistes trophies to his name, but has never been given a nod for his performances.
As an independent artiste, Das – who left NOC in 2021 – also appeared in several episodes of supernatural-themed variety show Mr Zhou’s Ghost Stories @ Singapore Sightings (2022) – as a guest alongside actor-host-deejay Dennis Chew.
The funnyman, who picked up Mandarin from friends in kindergarten and took it as a second language in school, never expected himself to host a Chinese-language series for the national broadcaster.
In fact, he first appeared on #JustSwipeLah as a celebrity guest.
“When I did (the Chinese New Year comedy-drama) Reunion Dinner (2022) – my first movie part – I came on (the show) to promote it with lead actors Lawrence Wong and Xiang Yun,” he recalls.
“Then, within a week, I received a call from the producers asking me to host. In my mind, I was like, ‘Are you okay? Why would you ask me to host?’ I thought they were crazy. I called a friend and was like, ‘They are asking me to host this show in Mandarin. What if I make a fool of myself?’ But my friend encouraged me and, eventually, I said yes.”
The polyglot – who speaks English, Mandarin, Malay and Tamil – went viral in 2020 for spoofing Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong’s circuit breaker announcement, where he changed the language he spoke in every time he took a drink from his cup.
And while all the programmes he hosts with Mediacorp are scripted in Chinese and conducted in Mandarin, Das maintains it is not his native tongue.
“I need to manage the world’s expectations. My Mandarin is not that good. English would be a lot easier for me. And my #JustSwipeLah co-hosts are much more proficient than me,” he says.
“Maybe I’m being too critical of myself. But when you’re going into something, you don’t want to be the worst one there. I don’t want to hide behind my race, I also want to be on a par with my peers.”
One thing working on #JustSwipeLah has done is reconnect Das with his childhood habit of watching Mediacorp series, like getting hooked on Channel 8 dramas in his babysitter’s home and watching Suria serials with his mother.
“The younger generation has lost touch with mainstream media and local productions, but it is important to support local works. People will say they don’t want to watch Tamil dramas, but somehow they can watch K-dramas. It’s okay to have preferences, but give our own productions a chance,” he says.
Das, who admits he, too, used to be a “Netflix person” before joining the local television industry, is a fan of many Mediacorp series.
He loved Richie Koh and Hong Ling’s performances in the blockbuster Channel 8 drama Your World In Mine (2022) and the multiracial cast of friendship drama Kaki Bola (2022) on Suria. He also enjoys documentaries on Vasantham and is currently watching the Channel 8 thriller Silent Walls.
He says: “A lot of money and effort are put into local drama productions. You can just go to mewatch and scroll through the selection. How can we, as Singaporeans, say that we relate to foreign shows better than our own? I think in terms of relatability, nothing beats local content.”
- Star Awards 2023 will air live on Sunday from 7pm on Channel 8 and Channel U, with a simulcast on mewatch and the Mediacorp Entertainment YouTube channel. The Walk Of Fame red carpet pre-show will air from 5 to 6.30pm.
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