Pallavi Subhash interview

"I DON'T BELIEVE IN TRPS"

WILL KARAM APNA APNA'S PALLAVI SUBHASH BE A ONE-SERIAL WONDER?

IT IS SAID THAT WHEN YOU PUT THE RIGHT PERSON AT THE RIGHT JOB, THE JOB WILL BE WELL DONE. EKTA KAPOOR SURE UNDERSTANDS THE GRAVITY OF THIS STATEMENT. EVER WILLING TO LAUNCH NEW FACES, HER CASTING SKILLS HAVE ALWAYS BEEN THE FOCAL POINT IN ALL HER SHOWS. SO WHEN SHE CAST PALLAVI SUBHASH AS GAURI, A NEW VERSION OF WOMAN MARTYRDOM, IN THE MUCH-HYPED KARAM APNA APNA, IT WASN'T MUCH OF A SURPRISE. BUT THE POINT IS — WITH AN ENTIRE SHOW RIDING ON HER SHOULDERS, CAN PALLAVI DO JUSTICE TO THE COMPLEX ROLE?

Not a newbie in the glam world, Pallavi has been a model, done ad-films, pursued Marathi theatre for four years and has numerous Marathi films to her credit. This is her second daily soap, the first being Zee's Tumhari Disha, in which she played a relatively insignificant role, only to be spotted therein (minus the auditioning bit) and be welcomed into the Balaji house. "I was told that I was seen in this particular scene in Tumhari Disha and that I needed to come to Kolkata. It was such a horrible scene, with me in the hospital, patti-watti lagake! Till date, I have never had to audition, touchwood! I have always received a call saying, 'Pallavi, you are selected for this part. Please come and sign the contract,'" she adds smilingly.

Even so, something that came along that easily was not part of her life design earlier. She reminisces, "I had decided I'll do law like my grandfather; main unke jaise banna chahti thi. I joined college thinking that I'll complete my graduation and then do my law, but that did not happen. I got an offer to do theatre and now this is my career choice. Right now, I don't even have time to think about anything else. I considered doing law alongside theatre but it didn't work out. If later I get the chance, I'd like to complete my law."

She has been a Mumbai resident all her life, living it up, taking things as they come. Now with her hectic schedule, shooting long hours, day-after-day — what keeps her going? "It is a whole lot of fun working with Balaji. All my co-stars are very cute, Achint (Kaur) hai, Yash (Tonk) hai…yeh sab meri family ki tarah hai. We have a lot of fun while shooting. If you enjoy your work, the stress levels are reduced. I haven't had a reason to complain yet; they are all there to take care of me. To a point that I cannot imagine working anywhere else," she says satisfied.

Does she miss working with Iqbal Khan (who played Shiv before Yash Tonk)? We'd heard she got the jitters working with him and fumbled with her dialogues all the time? "I have been asked this earlier. For me, it is nothing more than a rumor. There was nothing of that sort. It was my first scene with him in Kolkata and he made me very comfortable. My only introduction to him was that he has been working with Balaji. Being a Maharashtrian girl, I have watched primarily only Marathi TV serials. I do not recognize most actors and had not even seen Iqbal until that day. I was just a little worried about delivering the scene well from my end, considering it was all very new for me. I don't know, but at times, things like these are propagated for the sake of publicity." Wonder what Balaji would have to say to that?

At home, there is a family wagon swelling with pride and joy for their girl. Pallavi understands their love and knows that despite certain trivial discomforts, she would not want it any other way. "I can't give them a lot of time but I try my best to rush back home whenever I can." Also, the blast of fame has brought forth a sudden expansion of family and long lost relatives, something that has not gone unnoticed by this levelheaded gal. "I get invited to weddings much more, get calls from distant, almost non-existent family members. Diwali pe log mithai leke aate hai… I suddenly feel my family has grown!"

Ah! The perks of stardom! She admits to her life having transformed a great deal, acknowledges the opportunities lying ahead and more importantly, the ways in which she has been able to do so many things, now being part of a big production house. "I am extremely pleased with my character and love being Gauri. I'm quite a simple girl myself."

So does this mean Pallavi, as a person, is not very ambitious? She mulls over that and says, "At the moment, I am very happy with this serial and want to do complete justice to it. Movies are not part of my plans. Besides, there are many shades that I get to play with this character. As long as I am satisfied with the scope of the character, I am willing to continue here." So despite other offers and the Marathi fan base calling out to her, Pallavi has her loyalties in place.

Apart from all of you, apparently even Tulsi is a big fan and has been charmed by Pallavi's sincere act. "I was told about Smritiji (Irani) appreciating my work and I was completely floored! It means the world to me as I have grown up watching Smritiji, and for her to say something like that was just too much happiness for me to even be able to account for."

Playing the lead role, and joining the already long parade of female protagonist soaps, how strongly does she feel for these issues? Is this just some part that she is required to play or would she stand up for womens' rights in her own encounters? More still, would she be part of a male driven series? She replies defensively, "I agree that most of the serials now are women-oriented. But that's not the only reason they are doing well. I don't believe in TRPs. For me, the character and the story decide if I want to be a part of it. It could even be a negative role. I don't even have a particular co-star or director in mind, just so long as I like the character, feel comfortable with it and believe I can do justice to it, I will take it up. As of now, I am happy with Balaji."

So she loves her work and all that, but what would we find her doing on a lazy day? "Sleep!" she breathes out. "As of now, that is my second interest in life. I go home and at times, manage to make mom give me some home-cooked food. I carry a tiffin everyday, filled with ghar ka khana. I squeeze in about 5-6 hours of sleep. I carry my DVD player around and watch Hindi or Marathi films whenever I get the time."

On a sincere note, she goes on to say that she aspires to continually entertain her audience. "I want to be the best Gauri that I can ever be!" Now whether Pallavi can live up to Ekta's expectations or she'll end up being just a one-serial wonder, only time will tell.