How old are you?
I'm 20 years 4 months old (laughs).
At this age, how do you manage to play Gehna, who may be just 15 but is emotionally very mature?
Yes, it is tough for me. I'm the only daughter in my family after 72 years and I am also the youngest. So it was difficult for me to relate to a girl who is the eldest and takes the responsibility for her family. Also, my character is married off to a man three times her age who forces a sexual relationship on her. It was difficult to get into her shoes. I'm a girl who can rarely stay quiet while Gehna steals the whole episode away with a single line.
What did you do to familiarise yourself with the character?
I owe it to the workshops, the script and the environment on the set. I was kept confined in a room and made to see films like Bandit Queen. My director, Purnenduji, who conceptualised my character, along with the dialogue writer, gives me instructions. I do not ask questions like most other actors. I pose a question only when I cannot relate to something. I feel people write the show with conviction. By now, I know how Gehna will react to situations and there is no need to instruct me all the time.
The first nights after Gehna's marriage were torture for her. How did you pull off showing her pain?
The beauty of Balika Vadhu is that it plays with expressions and gestures. We have shown 7-8 nights where I was sexually molested but it was done so beautifully, so much was conveyed by subtle suggestions. For instance, the after-effect of the first night scenes was captured beautifully. The pain of what she went through in the night was shown with her gestures and expressions. I was convinced and so was the audience, hence it worked.
Shooting this sequence was difficult for me. When I read the script, I could not visualise what I had to do. So I let the director take me through it and not think about it myself though I was very uncomfortable.
Some people feel that the show does not protest against child-marriage strongly enough. What is your view?
When you distribute pamphlets, people immediately throw them away. If you give the same pamphlet folded or crumpled, people will open it to see what it contains. It is our nature to notice negative aspects far more easily than the positives; and that is what we bank upon. In the show, we showcase the wrong and insert a message in the end that it should not be done.
There are no negative characters in Balika Vadhu though a lot of people think Gehna's character is negative and others believe Maasaa is negative while some find Anandi irritating.
Do the men in your family you receive preferential treatment?
I have nine brothers in my house because we are from a joint family. My dad is the youngest amongst three brothers and I'm the youngest child of my dad so I'm pampered. In the metros, girls are not ignored completely but in remote places, as the popular saying goes, "Neeyat badal jaati hai par fitrat nahi badalti". However, even today, I have overheard my friends telling their girlfriends that they can give up studies if they don't have an inclination for it. Why can't the girl study and why does the man think he needs to study and do something in life? We claim that men and women are working shoulder-to-shoulder but the girl's shoulder is always an inch less.
Do you speak your mind in real life too?
As a person I'm very vocal. Before I played Gehna it was all about I, me and myself. I was self-obsessed (laughs). I would stand up for all "my" demands. But now I have started speaking for people around me. Not in public places but if I feel that my mother is in the wrong I tell her so; I even tell her the other person was right, which I could not have dared to do before.
Your co-actor Smita Bansal says that she gets goose bumps when enacting scenes with Surekha Sikri. What about you?
She gets goose-bumps and I get tears. The best thing about Surekhaji is that if you need her over-the-shoulder shot, she not only gives you cues but does them with the same intensity she gives to her own shots. From Anandi to Jagiya to me to Basant, we have never required glycerine because the way we react to each other is so natural that it just happens.
What is happening to your other fiction show Jo Ishq Ki Marzi Hai?
It is finally going on air from March 10. We have started shooting for it already.
You are a young girl. Are you dating anybody?
No. Actually I'm thinking of somebody but the results are not out yet. So I cannot say anything now (laughs).
Source : The Calcutta Telegraph
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