€œTHE DOCTOR SAID I COULD END UP BEING PARALYZED€
Everything
about the telly world is quite alluring. The glitz, the glamour and the
instant fame €" it is difficult, if not impossible to resist it all.
No wonder then that thousands throng the city everyday in the hope of
beginning their romance with this fickle yet glamorous world of
entertainment. Unfortunately, the picture is not all rosy.
Ask
Shubhangi Atre €" the girl who shot to fame with her act in Kasautii
Zindagii Kay, became a household name with Kasturi and was enjoying her
tryst with success playing the lead role in Rajshri Productions€™ Do
Hanson Ka Joda. But a serious accident on the sets of Do Hanson Ka Joda
changed things irreversibly for this actress. As if the injury wasn€™t
bad enough, Shubhangi had to also deal with malicious co-stars,
indifferent and apathetic team members and finally, the loss of a show
she had called her own. She reveals the dark and murky side of
television industry as she bares her heart out to Showtime.
One
never forgets the incident that changes the course of your life. Even
Shubhangi vividly remembers her ill-fated accident. €œWe were shooting
on the outskirts of Mumbai. We had to shoot a sequence inside the train.
We shot for that and then at a certain station, we had to get off. So
when the station arrived, everyone started getting off the train. I was
the last one to get off. By the time it was my turn, the train had
picked up speed. And I just heard someone shout €˜Shubhangi, jump€™.
You know, during these instances, you can€™t really think. As soon as I
heard that, I just jumped. So I fell hard on the platform and in the
process, hurt myself very badly. That day€™s shoot was wrapped up
anyway. So I went home, took painkillers and went to sleep. I didn€™t
think it was very serious,€ she recollects.
€œThe next day, I
again took painkillers and went for the shoot. Initially it was fine.
But once the effect of the painkillers started subsiding, I felt an
awful pain. I couldn€™t bear it. I started crying out in pain and went
and lay down on the station master€™s bench where we were shooting.
Seeing my condition, they left me early that day. That€™s when I went
to the doctor and found out that my lumbar spine had got dislocated. The
doctor advised me strict bed rest for one month at least. He said that
if I didn€™t take bed rest and if I put any strain on my back and legs,
I could end up being paralyzed. I obviously got very scared then.€
Quite
naturally, Shubhangi did what anyone else in her situation would do.
She informed the show€™s producers of her medical condition and how she
would not be able to shoot for the show anytime in the near future.
Little did she know that they would pull the show off air. She argues,
€œSee, I had a genuine problem. And hasn€™t it happened before in
other shows that they have replaced the main leads? So if they wanted,
they could have done it here too. Let€™s face it; I haven€™t become so
popular that the show runs only because of me. It€™s not that people
watch the show only for me. I€™m not a star in that sense yet. So they
could€™ve easily replaced me with a more talented actress or a more
popular one. Why didn€™t they do it? I honestly wanted the show to
continue without me.€
But that wasn€™t all. There were
reports of her show€™s co-star Shaleen Bhanot went about blaming her
for the show going off-air. Apparently, he even went to the extent of
saying that her accident was nothing but an act. €œI don€™t know why
these people thought that it was all an act because my accident happened
in front of their eyes. I felt very bad when I heard those rumours. You
see, I am from a small town and I have these small-town values. I get
attached to people easily and I take people on their face value. Only I
know how much I have cried over this. What can I do to prove that my
problem is genuine? I have already shown my medical certificate to them.
Do they want to talk to my doctor also? If they want, they can bring
their doctor along €" he can check my condition,€ she defies.
It€™s
easy to tell that the malignant rumours have affected her emotionally.
She regains her composure and continues, €œSome people even thought
that I had got another show. They thought I was just making up an excuse
so that I could leave Do Hanson€ and do the new show. Why would I do
that? Why would I lie? If I get into a new show, I can€™t hide it for
long. The TV industry is so small. Within no time everybody will know
about it, right? And why would I leave Do Hanson€ for a new show? This
was my show after all. I was the lead here. Every actor wants to be the
main lead of a show. You tell me, why would I give up all this? Why
would I fool around with my career?€
Taking a breather, she
adds, €œYou know, none of my co-stars came to visit me at home when I
was on bed rest. No one checked how I was doing after the accident.€
Ask
her if this episode has shaken her faith in the TV industry and she
quickly replies, €œHonestly, I have no complaints against anyone. I
wanted to be an actress ever since I can remember. And I come from a
strict Brahmin family where you couldn€™t even think about acting as a
career option. So the very fact that I have made it up to here is a huge
achievement for me. Now I just want to keep doing my own thing without
paying attention to what others have to say. Finally when I leave the
industry, I just hope that people will remember me not only as a good
actress but also as a good human being.€
Well, the fact that
Shubhangi has an undying passion for acting is more than evident. Why
else would she have pursued acting after being married with a kid? €œMy
husband and daughter were very supportive of my career. Initially it
was a little difficult because there were a lot of night shoots and
frankly, I wasn€™t used to the working culture. I€™m sure it must have
been difficult for my husband and daughter also when I was out for 16
hours a day but they never complained. They were happy for me,€ she
says.
And did she, a much married woman, feel like a misfit in
the industry which boasted of unmarried young actresses? Without batting
an eyelid, she replies, €œYeah, my colleagues used to call me aunty.
Because I used to not go to parties, or hang out with them after the
shoot. But I had a husband and a kid waiting for me at home. I used to
not be with them all day long, so naturally I felt like spending my free
time with them. So my colleagues used to say, you are so boring, you
are such an aunty. But I never paid attention to it.€
It€™s been a few months since the accident and Shubhangi is still on her way to recovery. €œI have started walking around again. But the doctor has told me not to do any strenuous activities. Even now, I can€™t stand for too long. I can€™t climb stairs, can€™t dance or run. There are a lot of restrictions.€
A trained classical dancer, Shubhangi had to even turn down an offer to work on Nach Le Ve With Saroj Khan And Terence Lewis due to her injury. €œThe offer came at such a time when I just couldn€™t say a yes. Otherwise, I love dancing. I had done Jalwa Four 2 Ka 1. And someday I would like to do Jhalak Dikhhla Jaa. As much as I want, I can€™t do Nach Baliye. My husband has two left feet and he tells me, dance ke mamle mein tum mujhe baksh do,€ she laughs.
But where does her accident leave her acting career? Has that been put on hold for sometime now? €œI have been getting a few offers for lead roles. But I obviously can€™t do them. They demand 12-14 hours a day and I cannot strain myself so much now. So I€™m looking for roles that are not as demanding but still important to the story. I don€™t want to do blink-and-miss roles. I might even try theatre. Who knows? Anything that satisfies the actor in me,€ she smiles.
Shubhangi has been through turbulent times, to say the least. But the actress remains unfazed. She is determined to pick up the pieces and start afresh. Guess that€™s the only way one can survive in the entertainment world.
*By Eepsita Guha
http://www.magnamags.com/content/view/7417/lang,english/
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