Udaariyaan actor Neha Thakur: Today’s audience is aware and smart

Neha Thakur is happy that her show Udaariyaan is getting positive feedback from the audience. The show is being produced by Ravie Dubey and Sargun Mehta’s Dreamiyata Entertainment.Neha plays the role of Mallika in the show.

“I’m really thankful to everyone who dedicatedly watches and supports us. Honestly all the responses that I read are mostly on social media and people are saying so many wonderful things like how they love the performance and story. For me the best compliment is always gonna be what my parents said when they watched me perform on the show for the first time. It’s really hard to impress them. So when my father said that he can’t see his daughter but just the character Mallika on screen, it felt amazing,” she smiles.

Dressing up as Mallika takes a lot of time. “People just see the look on screen and think ‘yeaa nice’ but there’s a team of so many people and a rack full of rejected looks behind that one look that we finally see on screens. So everything depends on how soon we  find that one look which will pull off Mallika’s ‘oomph factor’ (laughs) every day,” she adds.

Daily soaps mean a lot of hard work. “My drive to go on set is ‘kabhi toh off milega’. Just kidding (laughs again). Yes, it is a lot of hard work but we shoot for 19 hours too at times and then after a bit of sleep we have to get back on the set again, that’s just our job. We just have to get ready and be in-front of the camera, but there are people who have to prepare so many things like the set-up and lightings etc even before we land on set, even the drivers, who have to be there before the crew members too as they have to pick everyone up and their equipments and drop them off too. But people might never know them. So yea, when I look in totality how every single person does that, pulls it off so effortlessly, it kinda motivates you,” she says.

Neha praises the production team and adds that Dreamiyata is making ‘dreams’ come true.

Hindi shows have evolved contentwise. “Content evolves with people and society. Since the environment around us is progressing, so are the stories being told and portrayed on screen. Today’s audience is aware and smart and they know what they want to see and spend their time on,” she adds.

Being a ‘switch on’ and ‘switch off’  kind of person, it helps Neha to perform better. “I change when I hear ‘action’ and get back to normal after they say ‘cut’. In between that, I’m nowhere close to Neha. But yes, sometimes, during emotional scenes, your emotions overpower you so much that you can’t control yourself even after the take is over. But that’s ok, because if it don’t hit you, how would it hit the audience?” she says.

Adding more on how much her onscreen avatars affect her mentally and emotionally, she says, “No matter how hard you try, if you do something every day, your subconscious goes on autopilot and adapts some habits or traits. Like, I’ve become a lot more interested in fashion than I ever was, because of Mallika. And since the past few days, we’ve been doing a lot of emotional scenes and I rarely fake a cry but when you exhaust yourself so much, it takes a toll on your mental health, up to a point that it starts coming out physically. I’m an over-thinker and have migraine issues so when I stress myself this much, I start getting headaches and sometimes end up throwing up. So, you have to perform well, but also take note that you don’t harm yourself during the process.”

Off camera, actors often engage in fun activities. “We are generally in each other’s rooms only. We laugh, crack jokes, and watch cricket matches together during lunchtime. And sometimes I bring my guitar and we jam! Luckily, all my co-actors are really nice, honest and funny. I love them all. But me and the two girls, Twinkle Arora (Nehmat) and Sonakshi Batra( Naaz). I guess what we three have is something that will last even after the show is over,” she logs out.