I'm Dying to potray Amrita Pritam --Sadiya Siddiqui

Sadiya Siddiqui opens up about her meatier role in Rangrasiya, how TV has changed and her next play Ek Mulaqat based on the lives of Sahir Ludhianvi and the poet

Sadiya Siddiqui was recently seen playing a Thakur's wife in Rangrasiya. Her presence meant hope for viewers looking out for a good character and a great performance. But a few episodes down the line, she disappeared from the scene making way for newer characters and a parallel storyline till news came out about her coming back again and the mystery unfolding around the identity of Rudra's ( the lead hero, Ashish Sharma) mother. Little wonder then, Sadiya took on the role which now seems to be meatier than just nodding to whatever her husband said! " Yes, I will start shooting more regularly with them next month. It was shown that Rudra's mother had left him and his father to elope with another man.

While she wanted to take her son along with her, his father didn't allow her and instead painted the picture of a wicked mother who abandoned him. So Rudra has grown up hating his mother and all pretty women because that's what his father taught him - to never trust a pretty woman," Sadiya says.

She says very soon Rudra will find out about her and then start torturing her for every wrong she did to him.

It is payback time." He will keep me hostage in a cowshed and give vent to his hatred for me. It's going to t a k e s o m e t i m e before his relationship with his mother changes," she says.

Sadiya has been around in the industry for a long time now. How has TV changed for the better and for the worse from the time she did shows like Banegi Apni Baat? " The production values have gone up and everything looks presentable and beautiful now. Stories were more real then. Today while the stories may be real, the treatment leaves a lot to be desired. I have problem with the way shows are executed today. In Banegi Apni Baat, I played this spoilt, rich brat and then when she gets married, she has issues with her mother- in- law. But all that was shown in a relatable way. Who dresses up the way actors do in TV soaps today especially when there is so much poverty around in our country?" she says.

" In those times, there were better actors, too. Today, there are no character roles. There is only a lead couple, a dadi who is possibly villainous and a father and mother who have nothing much to do. No one bothers about milking these characters, which could actually support the story beautifully. May be the ratings come only with the lead pair and their love story!" she adds.

Sadiya, who has done a handful of films including Kabhi Haan Kabhi Naa, Kali Salwar, Raghu Romeo and Just Married: Marriage Was Only The Beginning, says she does feel bitter sometimes about her film career not going in the direction she would have wanted it to. " For actors like me, we need agents who push our work because I am not the socialising kind. I am not seen everywhere and I would rather keep to myself but having said that, whatever I have done so far, I have done it on my own steam and it's been good enough for makers to come to me with whatever little work they feel I will do justice to. That's important especially when someone comes to you saying they wrote a part for you alone! For instance, I enjoyed my work in Balika Vadhu in which I played an activist- teacher. Such roles are difficult to come by," she says.

Apart from Rangrasiya, Sadiya is looking forward to interesting films like Sanjay Chhel's Kill the Rapist? and Hansal Mehta's City Lights. " Working with Hansal is like working on a play.

He lets you be, explore the character the way you want, lot of space to move around and gently guides you back if you digress. And Sanjay's film is about three girls living in Delhi when a man breaks into their house and tries to rape one of them! The other two girls come in at the right time not only preventing the rape but also taking charge of the situation. The tables are turned with the man now under their control and they having all the power to do whatever they want with him," she says.

Theatre, too, plays a big role in Sadiya's life. " Like films, it challenges me and gives me sleepless nights.

Unlike TV, where all you do is talk and give reactions for one whole minute, but in films and theatre, your body language and your eyes can do all the talking when required," she says.

So besides Vikram Kapadia's Bombay Talkies and Saurabh Shukla's Two To Tango and Three To Jive, there is Ek Mulaqat, a play coming up on the lives of Sahir Ludhianvi and Amrita Pritam. " They are searching for someone to play Sahir saab while I get to play Amrita Pritam, who I am dying to portray!" says Sadiya.