Ghum Hai Kisikey Pyar Mein's Ayesha Singh on equation with Neil Bhatt, prepping for Sai, COVID-19 and more

Ghum Hai Kisikey Pyar Meiin has been doing wonders with the fans and they've been having a thorough time watching the show. It features Neil Bhatt, Ayesha Singh, and Aishwarya Sharma in the lead roles as Virat, Sai, and Paakhi respectively. We got in touch with Ayesha about the show, cast members, shooting for certain scenes, her character Pakhi, and more.

Read Ayesha's exclusive chat with India Forums here.

Your equation with Neil Bhatt on the sets.

I share a pretty decent equation with Neil sir, it is fun working with him and he is very sincere with his work, so I get to learn a lot while working with him as well. Over the period of time, we have come to know each other better as artists and that is an upside and by now, we get a hinge of what the other would do in a certain scene, so I would say it is a growing bond between the two of us and is nice.

Who is closest to you among the cast.?

Amongst the cast, I share a great bond with almost everybody,  but amongst my dearest friends, there is Sidharth Bodke, he plays Jgatap, and there is Sanjay Narverkar sir, I am in regular touch with him and we share a great bond and joke around with cards and food and games. I also share a great bond with Kishori ma'am and Mitali ji. I think these four are the closest to me and I share a little bit of my personal space with them.

How is life in Agra different from Mumbai? How do you keep up alone?

I don't live alone, I live with my brother and there is a huge part of my extended family so I drop by whenever I want and miss home food, among other things. I don't feel alone in the city. Mumbai is way different than Agra and the latter is my hometown so I have an attachment to the place but I have always been in love with Mumbai since a kid because I used to visit here with my Mum as it is her hometown, so I have always been attached to Mumbai, and also, I love the beaches.

What efforts and rehearsal go before shooting any scene especially Sairat scene?

We read through the screenplays before doing any scene, the before and after, and where the character graphs are going. We do have reading sessions, the artists read the dialogues together, then we rehearse the positioning according to the camera, as per the director and then we give a camera rehearsal and then we shoot it. It goes in not just in Sairat scenes, but the process is the same for all the scenes.

What do you feel about switching your profession?

I have made the switch from a lawyer to an actor and I feel pretty damn good.

Is it difficult to play the role of Sai since you have mentioned how the character is different from you in a lot of ways?

Well, sometimes, when I am not in a great mood or I am low on energy and that is when Sai is a difficult task because she is very high on energy as a person and a very active, talkative person. So when I am not in the mood, I really really difficult when I am having a tough day already, like Ayesha, but it is fun and games when you get to live a character.

Often, certain scenes don't go down well with what you believe, how do you convince yourself to play such scenes? 

When I don't believe in a scene and I am not convinced, I ask our creative director, Sidharth sir, and he explains the inside out of the character and honestly, he knows it better than me because he has a huge part in creating the character and I believe in him a lot, and he is an integral part of giving shape to the character wherever it is heading, so he knows from the beginning to the end. But I think there haven't been days when I am not convinced, but if I do have doubts, I ask him, that is my drill.

What kind of challenges are you facing due to covid?

Because of COVID, we are in a bio-bubble and away from our families, we have to take a lot of precautions when stepping out. But, I am really thankful that during such times when people are losing their jobs, we are still working, we have our jobs, and every day, you have something to look forward to so I think that keeps us going through these hard times, but the challenges are always there, including keeping your health in check and taking certain measures, or being away from your family.