Ipshita will do anything for her love

Shreya Bisht couldn't have expected a better birthday gift. Soon after a magazine that featured her on the cover hit the stands Shreya landed with a plum TV role. Her role as Ipsita in Karam Apna Apna has given her instant fame and recognition.

Q Tell us a little about your character in Karam Apna Apna?
I play Ipshita who's a classy, sensual girl. A girl who can do anything for the person she loves and for truth and justice. Hence there are times when you find some grey shades in her.

Q Till now you didn't have much of a role. Will your track gain prominence soon?
Ofcourse. My role is a central character.

Q Will you now become the vamp who'll do anything to get Shiv?
It's not a negative character — just has grey shades. She does so only because of her fight for truth and wants to win her love at any cost. Mine is an important character, parallel to Shiv (Iqbal Khan who has been replaced by Yash Tonk).

Q How was your first day on the sets of Karam? How were your co-stars Iqbal, Pallavi etc?
It was October 10th, my birthday, when I came for my first day shoot. From what I observed, I felt very uneasy and uncomfortable. Suddenly, I decided to go back as I felt acting is not my cup of tea. I was about to leave when the assistant directors and production managers came to me and convinced me to give it a try and made me feel comfortable. Even my co-stars Iqbal and Pallavi were very polite and professional. Today everything is just fine.

Q What made you consider acting?
I was never interested in acting as I was successfully running my own consultancy firm. A Mumbai magazine was looking for fresh faces and one of my close friends happened to be associated with it. He suggested that I should send my pictures. When my picture was published, I got a call from Shobha Kapoor. I was called for an audition and I took up the opportunity because a good brand name like Balaji was associated with it.

Q Now that you've become a star, how do your family and friends react?
My family is in Nainital. That's my home town. They were suprised and happy when they first saw me on TV. My friends and employees in my company were also very excited. Once, when I was in a movie theatre and came out during the interval to buy eatables, a Gujarati couple recognised me and asked if my character is really bad... will I separate Shiv-Gauri... I had to convince them that Ipshita is not bad girl.

Q You must be shooting almost everyday for this show? How do you manage your business?
I've called my sister from Delhi to look after my HR consultancy firm and she has taken charge successfully. Sometimes, if important decisions have to be taken, she discusses them with me on the phone. Regarding TV, I'm a workaholic and am used to this kind of a schedule in my business too.

Q Your future plans!
Now that I have taken acting seriously I am just going to concentrate on this and will give it my best. You know what, in the beginning my scenes were done only after 5-8 retakes but now it gets done in 1-2 retakes. (Sampurn)