Yeh Rishta Kya Kehlata Hai's Pranali Rathod: TRP's are important, but I'm not paying attention to them now

Yeh Rishta Kya Kehlata Hai is produced under Shahi's banner Director's Kut Productions and airs on Star Plus. It features Harshad Chopda, Pranali Rathod, Karishma Sawant, Mayank Arora, Sharan Anandani, among others in the lead roles. India Forums got in touch with Pranali and we got talking to her about the show, the prep that went into the character, and some more. Read excerpts from the interview here.

What kind of pressure did you feel taking over as a lead in such an iconic show?

I think we can call it good pressure. Because of that pressure I think " hamare andar ka best kaam nikal raha hai" (it's getting the best out of us) and it is showing on screen. Touchwood. Hopefully! (nervously smiles).

What went into getting your character right and what prep continues to go into the show?

To be honest at first I was being myself like Pranali but later on, I realized that I'm learning new things about Akshara everyday, which is a good thing of course.

Your character has quite the antics, do you relate to them?

Yes, I do relate to Akshara a lot, because she is silly. She is fun. She is chirpy and I'm like that. Like Pranali is chirpy, she's fun and she's also clumsy. Oh my God, Pranali is clumsy just like Akshara. So yes, I do relate to Akshara a lot in real life.(laughs)

The TRP also witnessed a jump these past weeks. Anything you'd like to say?

To be honest, right now, I'm focusing on my work, my acting skills and how do I improve it everyday. Of course TRP's are important, but I'm just not paying attention to them right now.

Finally, what do you see changing for yourself with this show in the time to come? How has the response been so far?

If I talk about response. I'm super happy with the response. Touchwood.  People are loving it. They're loving the show and I do get such nice fan messages and my family, friends, my old coworkers, directors I have worked with, they all messaged me and said that I'm doing a good job. So that means a lot to me. So yes the response, "Touchwood. Abhi tak toh accha raha  hai and I hope aage tak ho THU THU THU "(SMILES) . Let's hope for the best and I'll give my 100% to keep my fans and people entertained. "Baaki sab dekha jayega".

Meanwhile, we saw Abhimanyu's heart breaking in the Wednesday episode. He was imagining that Akshara has accepted his love, while in reality she said no to him in front of his entire family. Abhimanyu tried to convince her to tell the truth but for the betterment of her family, especially Aarohi, she rejected his love. It will be interesting to see what follows.