It is interesting to play an evil queen " Aashka Goradia

It is interesting to play an evil queen - Aashka Goradia

Aashka Goradia is quite happy with her two year old Sony historical show Maharana Pratap, "We continue to rate Numero Uno on the channel. As the capital city of Mewar Chittod is now under siege of the Mughal emperor Akbar, the Rajput's are shifting base to Udaipur."

Coming to her character, Aashka says, "it is really interesting to play a evil queen like for although Maharani Dheerbai Bhatiyani loves Pratap, she can't see him becoming king as she wants her son to ascend his father to the throne and she achieves her ends as well. Being a historical there is lot of do's and don't. I really had to work hard on the body language, diction, mannerisms given the pole political position in Mewar hierarchy Bhatiyani enjoyed due to the virtue of being the youngest and the most beautiful queen of Maharana Udai Singh (Shakti Anand)."

Remind her that the numbers of the show have dipped post the leap, and Aashka says ,"You need to appreciate the fact once any show takes a leap, it does take some time for the audiences to warm up to the newer lot of characters , and in our case matters are slightly more tougher give the fact that. Faisal Khan (Young Pratap)was very popular amongst the viewers, so it had a bigger jolt as compared to leaps on other shows. However I see it from a positive point of just how popular Maharana Pratap was. Last but not the least a child' saga always elicits more interest than a grown man's struggle. Contiloe Entertainment is gearing up to resurrect the former glory of the show by bringing back some character's i.e Kunwar Shakti Singh (Now grown up though). There might be introduction of a new female character in Pratap's ( Sharad Malhotra) personal life as well. So be ready for some big high points. "

She goes on, "Further I wish to point out that you really can't compare pre and post leap numbers for the entire rating system(from TAM to BARC) has changed in the recent past . The fresh sample size and measurement matrix is now totally different. Hence it will take some time for all concerned stake holders to properly understand its nitty-gritty. E.g. under BARC a highly popular show as has dropped from 6 (during TAM) to 2.5 now. Also the entire roll out of BARC is yet to be complete for they are only reporting from urban centres for now . The real game changer is yet to unravel when they start announcing numbers from rural areas as well, a sector which TAM never ventured into."

By Anil Merani