Engineer-turned-actress Shivya Pathania who plays Arzoo in Humsafars tells SANGEETA YADAV that she is taking baby steps in choosing projects for the small screen and that all her efforts are being steered towards one goal in of her life and that is to act in Bollywood
How is it to play Arzoo in HumsafarsIJ
Her character is growing on me. She is the girl-next-door who has her feet planted firmly on the ground and a family person. At the same time, she has a modern outlook about what life in general should be like. Her dream is to be a fashion designer and to fulfill it she travels from lucknow to Mumbai to make a name for herself. Arzoo is someone everybody can relate to. She faces each problem head on and that makes her character truly inspiring.
How much can you relate yourself to ArzooIJ
like Arzoo, I too come from a small town (from Shimla) to Mumbai to become an actor and realise my dream. In that sense, I can relate to the character. I was pursuing engineering in Shimla when I realised that I wanted to act. I was lucky that I got selected in the audition for this show. It has given me the opportunity to work with senior actors who are very supportive.
How is the industry treating youIJ
Initially, I found it difficult to understand the nuances and adjust to the working system. From memorising dialogues, to learning the technicalities of how a serial is made to standing on the mark and facing the right camera, was all very new to me. But I took workshops and that helped me a lot. To begin with, I used to give many retakes. Even now, I sometimes feel that I can give a better shot even if the director has okayed the scene. This is because I love what I am doing and am always charged up and don’t get stressed.
Your experience on the set.
It’s a lot of fun. Women dominate men on the sets of Humsafars and all of us have a great time while shooting and during breaks. There is a rule on the sets that if someone’s phone rings, that person has to give Rs 750 as fine. At the end of the shoot, ice cream is bought for everyone from that money. So plenty of entertainment all the time.
Any scene which was difficultIJ
There was this scene where I had to fall backwards into a swimming pool. I had to give five retakes as we had to shoot the scene from different angles. Initially it was scary since I didn’t know where I was going or how deep the pool was.
But after the second take, it became easy.
What about acting in BollywoodIJ
If anything comes up, I’ll give it a shot because Bollywood is my goal. But right now, I am concentrating on this serial. When I leave the TV industry, I want to leave a lasting impression through my performances and the characters that I would have played by then.