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| Deccan Herald She Detailed Story | ||
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| Finding her identity in Simran | ||
| An unsung hero is what she is. Niki Aneja Walia is known worldwide as Dr Simran, and glimpses of the character's determination and strength are seen in her too, writes Namrata Iyengar. | ||
| When I first met Niki Aneja Walia, I was absolutely star-struck. It's not everyday that you get to chance upon a daily soap icon. A few minutes of babbling later, she put me at ease with her warm smile and a comfortable 'Thank-you-so-much'. I managed to arrange for an interview with her; I was ecstatic. As I spoke to Niki and heard of her traumatic accident, my reactions ranged from disbelief to shock and finally to immense respect.
Around four years ago, Niki suffered a major car accident on the sets of the serial Gharwali Uparwali. An unqualified driver hit her with his car in the abdomen, knocked her down, drove over her as her left armgot sucked into the car's chassis and dragged her for another ten metres, ripping off her right ear and scraping her entire right side on the tarmac. The car had to be lifted and shaken by 8 people to release her from the chassis. Niki was taken to Leelavati Hospital, where the doctors had worse news - she had broken her tailbone and had a 3-pint blood clot in her bottom. Sitting down was not an option for her and even if she did, she would have to use a swimming tube. It took Niki a year to recuperate, but get back on her feet she did. Now in reel life, she is widely recognised and respected for her role as Dr Simran, the poised pillar of strength in the daily soap Astitva - Ek Prem Kahani. Little do people know that Niki has a tale of courage woven into her life as well. "I had to act after the accident. A while after my accident became known, a few colleagues of mine began speculating that I was in a coma, or worse off - dead. My mother recieved calls of condolence from many people who assumed I had died in the accident, and for the first time, she cursed them with all gusto, asking them to get their facts right. I feel I had to come back to acting to prove to people that I was not down and out. I was very alive and ready," she says. While she was recouping, Niki spent her time in UK with fiancee Sonny Walia and his family. Eight months later, her homeland beckoned and when she came to India, she was contacted by scriptwriter Ajai Sinha. "Ajai ji was a person I always wanted to work with. When I read the script he offered me and saw the pilots, I was blown away. The concept was completely different from the saas-bahu sagas that I wanted to stay away from. But I was also wary of the fact that he wanted me to play the role of a 37 year old when in real life, I was not even 30! However, Ajai ji convinced me that I would pull it off, and Astitva began," she reminisces. Three years later, Dr Simran has become a household name, synonymous with patience, endurance and compassion. It is pleasantly surprising to hear that Niki identifies with her character very much. "In her beliefs and ideologies, I am much like Simran. Family is my first priority, and I am a very trusting person, although that is not a very good thing sometimes. And I do believe in giving people another chance. If situations, like those in Simran's life, would have arisen in mine, I would believe in giving my husband a second chance. It takes a lot from a woman to sustain a marriage and it is not something that can be undone so quickly. In some ways we're not so alike - I'm a lot of fun, and Simran's really sad; I'm really loud and Simran's very softspoken - but in most ways we are very similar. Despite the presence of great female characters like Simran's arch-nemesis Kiran, her naive but strong-willed daughter Aastha and her talkative, affectionate and supportive maid Shaguna, Simran manages to hold her own. "I think it's because Simran complemented the other characters. The character of Shaguna would not be viewed the way she is if Simran did not react to her in a certain way. People see the other characters through Simran's eyes. And the way the character is underplayed - with almost nil make-up and nothing loud on her - puts her in a new niche as a heroine," Niki says. 'Anti-men' sentiments find no place in Niki's philosophy, nor in Simran's, she says. " If Simran really did hate men, why did she take Abhi back after 14 years? She acknowledges the fact that a woman is incomplete without her man. Simran also has deep respect for her father, as she has for Manas and even Siddhanth. Before we women point fingers at men, we should stop to think of our fathers and brothers. Sometimes the girl may have been ill-treated by her father or brother; if that be the case, she must not forget that no matter what, she is still his child. For me, respect takes pride of place above love," she says. Now Astitva has come to an end. Positive as ever, she announces cheerily that she is very happy with the way the serial ended. "I'm taking a six-month break now. Working in a daily soap ate into my personal life, and how! I will get back to acting, but no more dailies for me. Hereafter, I'm going to look at projects that are as good as Astitva was. It is impossible that anything else could be better than that serial," she laughs. Tales of courage such as this are hardly ever done justice to. But as Niki bids me a cheerful adieu, I feel her tale has been told, through Dr Simran, through the Zee Astitva awards, through the fact that she gets up every morning and wants to continue to act. |
CID
