While Mahadev and Uttaran have been showing double role episodes for a while, Balika Vadhu has joined the bandwagon with a similar track being played on the show. It won't be a surprise if others too follow suit.
Tina Dutta portrayed the characters of mother Ichcha and daughter Meethi in Uttaran for an entire year. Recalling the experience she said, "Portraying two characters simultaneously in a daily soap is very taxing. Especially when you have to do chroma shoot, you need to change into your next attire in 30 minutes because they have to freeze the frame. Also, a change in character is also about change in your mannerisms, thought process and body language."
Quite naturally, it was a challenge portraying two separate characters together. Brushing aside any suggestions of inconvenience, Tina added, "Double roles help you prove your acting skills as it gives you more space and variation. Above all, it's a big challenge as you need to have loads of patience."
Rupali Guha, the producer of Uttaran said she wanted Tina to play both the roles as she was the face of Uttaran. "I didn't want the show to lose its essence. Kudos, to Tina that she was ready to take up the challenge. However, portraying a double role is extremely taxing in a daily soap as the time element is very short. Also, it leads to increase in the shooting time and production cost as a single scene has to be done twice."