| Coming from an army background Barkha Bisht had a tough time convincing her kith and kin about a career in acting. She is not a new face on television having already done four shows, including Kitni Mast Hai Zindagi . But she hit the jackpot with Rajshree's new show Pyaar Ke Do Naam Ek Radha Ek Shyam where she bagged a double role as the lead.
Kavita Shyam spoke to the confident young actor
Tell us about the Rajshree offer that you have bagged?
I play two characters in the show Pyar Ke... which is about reincarnation. In the present birth I play Radha who is a middle class family oriented girl. She is a medical student and has high values in life. She is wary of the guys around her who try to flirt with her in college. On the other hand, Shyama from previous birth is a simple village girl. She is full of life, an introvert and cannot confront the guy whom she loves. Her love interest, Kishan played by Indraneil Sengupta comes back to the village after completing his studies. Radha has a churidar-kurta look while Shyama has ghagra choli look in the show. Ekta sent you a legal notice because you walked out of Kya Hoga Nimmo Ka, what is the status now?
Yes, Ekta had sent me a legal notice and the court case happened. The legal department and my lawyers are looking into the case. I think Ekta is too busy to talk to actors like me who aren't big but I guess she wanted to go the legal way.
But why did you walk out of the Balaji show?
I opted out of Nimmo….because I am getting to play the main lead in Pyaar…., though I did give them a month's notice but I guess Ekta was very upset.
How was it to work with Balaji telefilms?
Working with Balaji was a learning experience, they gave me a lot of exposure. I am grateful to Ekta who liked me in my auditions and gave me a break in her show. My first break into television was through Kitni Mast Hai Zindagi and I have had no acting background. After all they are the number one production house in the country.
Are you still identified as the Kitni Mast Hai Zindagi's Udita?
I am identified as the sweet and dumb Udita from Kitni Mast... But I am miles away and different from the character I played which is extremely close to my heart as it gave me a lot of recognition. But in real life I am level headed person and am reserved, however I am extremely friendly too. I am serious about my work and life. Did you begin your career with modeling followed by acting?
I have a defence background but basically completed my education from Pune but I am originally from Dehradun. I worked in a call centre (GE Capital,Gurgaon) for three and a half years as a voice and accent trainer. My dad was against me getting into this field but the MTV audition happened quite by chance. Once I made it to the audition and got selected I managed to convince my parents for the same. Now they are happy for me. If I wouldn't have got any more offers after Kitni…I would have got back to my earlier job in the call center but thankfully I got to play character roles in Kkavyanjali, Kasautii Zindagi Ki, and now the Rajshree project. I have not been inclined towards films but have grown up watching television and I am influenced by Prerna of Kasautii…
Did you have to do any homework for Pyaar Ke…?
My character Shyama needed a different body language. She's is a village girl and her pronunciations are different too. I watched Lagaan a couple of times as my character is similar to Gracy Singh's in Lagaan. Besides Rajshrees gave me a good brief about the character which helped a great deal. What are you future plans?
For now I want to put in all my energy into the show. I shoot for twenty five days in a month in Wai. I am happy doing television and am passionate about acting so films may happen if it's an unusual role. Today television actors are more famous than film actors. I am open to the idea of doing ad films along with the show. | 
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