Life is anyway a risk: Shveta -Interview

'Who says I'm not A warm person?'


What's your experience shooting for your debut film Dharmesh Darshan's Bhanvaraa - Love and Agression ?

We finished the first schedule. We shot a song. It was amazing. A different feeling. I'm enjoying every moment of it. Everything's on a large scale... it seems larger than life.

You are working with your TV colleagues Eijaz Khan, Manav Gohil, Sangeeta Ghosh in this movie...

Yes. However, I have only worked with Manav before. But TV being a smaller industry, you tend to know each other well even if you haven't worked together.

Will you be running around trees in the film?

(Laughs) It is a Hindi film, a typical commercial film. Anyway running around trees kind of a thing doesn't happen anymore. The format of filming has changed, storylines are different. People are experimenting more on stories, scripts. Even if you don't literally see me running around trees, you will see all aspects of Bollywood in this film.

Considering it's a multi-starrer, do you think you have enough scope to perform?

There are just four of us. To start off with a role that I have been offered is amazing. It is extremely challenging. It is not your conventional bollywood heroine, but so much more.

That's what actually attracted me to the character. She has so many shades. She is a very strong character. Dharmeshji says she is today's Laila.

Are you taking a break from TV for movies?

Television is something that has given me what I am today. I will never forget that. I'll always be indebted to television, but for me as an actor I want to grow and move ahead and Bhanwara is that step that I have taken.

I won't say I have taken a break. But yes, I believe in concentrating on one thing at a time. Even on TV I never did multiple shows. I always did one or two projects at a time.

Isn't it risky for an established TV actor to take a break from television?

Life is anyway a risk. What's the fun in living so safe and being over-cautious? I have always been extremely impulsive. I go with my gut feeling. It's fun...adds that spice to life. Some people tell me 'It's a risk. Will the audience accept TV actors in films'. We request people not to treat us as TV actors, but just actors. Finally it all boils down to acting, whether it's TV, theatre or movies. I'm speaking not just for myself but my other colleagues as well. We are all working extremely hard, our director has taken a huge step and we thank him for this opportunity. We just want to tell everyone don't judge us, accept us and encourage us.

During your Jhalak Dikhhla Jaa stint last year when Sanjay Leela Bhansali showered you with compliments did you hope for a good role in his movies?

He was extremely generous with his praise for me. I'll always appreciate that. It's a dream to work with established and extremely talented directors. If he has something good for me and he thinks I fit the bill and he offers me, I would love to be a part of his film.

You were supposed to anchor Jhalak Dikhhla Jaa this year. What went wrong there?

Jhalak... will always be something closest to my heart. I am emotionally attached to Jhalak. But to gain something you got to lose something. I would have loved to anchor Jhalak and do the film, but as cliched as it sounds the dates of the show and the movie were clashing.

Did you always want to be an actress?

I don't know. I just knew I was always creatively inclined, whether music, singing, dance or performing.

Acting apart, what's the real Shveta like?

I'm not like the image people tend to give me. We are often judged through the characters we play. I've always played such strong characters in my shows that people tend to think I'm personally like that too. But those who are close to me, my family and friends, know me well. I'd read somewhere that I have lost out on projects because I don't come across as a warm person. That's so funny. It's so strange! I am a simple dal-chawal girl, not the lasagne type. I work hard. I believe in doing my job and going home.

What's on the personal front?

Right now. It's only professional. Sometimes my professional life becomes my personal life too. I'm very happy doing what I am doing.