'In real life, every person is a little selfish'- Rashmi Desai

Rashmi Desai who kick-started her career through regional films at the age of 16 has now come a long way!! Her talent, patience and hard work has paid dividends, as she finds herself well-placed in the television industry. 

In a conversation with TellyBuzz, Rashmi Desai shares her professional ups and downs...

Before television, you have done many regional movies. How difficult or easy was it to express your emotions without understanding the language?
Yes I have done many movies in many different languages. It was both difficult as well as fun. Difficult because I didn't understand the language; I used to take time to get the right pronunciation. And it was fun because I like learning new languages.

After 'Pari Hoon Main' how did Uttaran happen to you?
Basically my first debut on TV was through the show Raavan, where I enacted the role of Mandodri opposite Jay Soni. I had taken up that project because after doing regional movies I  wanted to have the experience of working for a television fiction and to know whether I am interested in it.

And during that time Sphere Origin spotted me and asked me to give the look test for Pari Hoon Main. The casting people felt that I'm really dedicated and interested in doing the role so I got through.

Then there was a period when TV was going thro' the strike phase. At that time I was in Malaysia and I got a call for the look test for the role of Ichcha; but then I didn't want to enact the role of a person who just keeps crying all the time. Then they offered me the role of Tapasya; I went thro' the script and fell in love with Tapasya's character.

So, today what kind of an audience response do you receive at public places for your character of Tapasya?
See personally I'm a very bubbly and chirpy kind of a person. Earlier I used to behave very kid-dish at public places when people used to come up and ask me why Tapasya behaves this way. But now people come up and appreciate my performance; they say they like my character portrayal. It's a big thing for me that viewers like it.

Any special kind of research you had to do to get into the skin of Tapasya's character?
Yes, of course I had to do a lot of research because Tapasya is a psychotic girl who can go to any extent to achieve what she wants. I actually had to look for an example. My mother's best friend's son was a lone child, they had pampered him a lot and he knew how to get things done from his parents. Later they took him to a psychiatrist and they detected a disease, and it took him 6-8 months to recover. I did talk about it a lot to my sister who is a psychiatrist to learn the psychology of Tapasya.

The kind of jealousy and negativity Tapasya's role seems to be portraying, do you think that much negativity exists in real life too?
To an extent I feel yes, and somewhere we have taken a bit of liberty. See in real life, every person is selfish and when time comes  he/she has the capability to go to any extent to achieve the goal.

The fact also remains that people do think of the positive and negative's related to the action but in the present time, nothing comes your way all by itself. Every man has to make his own path and at times even manipulate things to achieve his/ her aim.

Tell us something about your reality show experience and how did you strike a balance between reality and fiction?
I had a real tough time, especially when I was doing Zara Nachke Dikha. I was both mentally and physically stressed. I used to work round the clock and then sleep in my travel time. After that I decided not to take up reality shows for at least 3 months; but I won't mind making an appearance in episodic like Comedy Circus.

So how was the occurrence in the comedy genre?
It was very exciting and as an actor one should be experimenting on new things, and that's what I did. Hosting the show was very difficult initially, but then it went on quite smoothly.

What was your childhood aspiration?
I had two aspirations, either to be a choreographer or an Air hostess. I had even dreamt of opening a dance institute, but now I don't have time to work towards it.

So from here is Bollywood the next step for you?
Yes why not? If I get a good break I'll try to do the best. But things are not that simple in the film industry. So, I don't want to put in a hasty step, path but good work is always welcomed.

Reporter & Author: Pooja Shenoy