Actress Achint Kaur was away from the small screen to break the monotony of daily soaps. She is now returning to TV and tells Divya Kaushik that she only wants to be part of contemporary stories
For someone who was part of cult shows on television like Banegi Apni Baat and Swabhimaan, it was difficult to repeat roles and just be another vamp on the small screen. So a couple of years ago, Achint Kaur decided to take a break from TV and do theatre and films. As an actress she felt there was a need to break the monotony in her work and do something real and challenging. “I belong to that phase of TV when shows were mostly weekly and working on a character happened over time with proper research and home work. During that time, we had shows that had a longest run on Indian TV screens but the script of those shows was engaging throughout. Then, nobody worked just to get away with the day’s episode. So when things started to change and the trend of daily soaps began, it was very difficult for me to adapt. More than work pressure, it was monotony that bothered me. I started feeling that I was doing the same thing every day, be in a certain get up and say almost similar things. I was scared that I was getting into a comfort zone, which is a very hazardous thing to happen to an actor. Also the other problem that I have with most daily soaps is that they are either about extreme positive or about extreme negative. I do not relate to such characters. I believe in things that are contemporary and real, I feel I can play such roles better. So I decided to not do TV serials for a certain time, but I missed working for TV. It’s an addiction,” shared the actress who has finally decided to be back on TV with Zee’s Jamai Raja. The show is different in the sense that it focusses on the relationship of a mother and son-in-law. Achint plays the super rich mother-in-law who doesn’t share a very close relationship with her own daughter and the son-in-law, played by Ravi Dubey, tries to men the relationship between the mother and daughter. Said Achint, “At least the characters look real in this show and it is not at all melodramatic. The show looks at relationships in a modern yet positive way.”
The actress feels happy that the change has started to happen in the TV industry and the audience are open to accept the change. “I think 24 has made a very good beginning but there is still a long way to go. Storylines cannot change within a wink of an eye. We may say that stories are dragged and regressive but there are people watching them. There is a certain section of people who still relate to them. The change that has started to happen is that now there is variety. Even in daily soaps, we can see a fresh perspective, they are looking at relationships in a more positive way,” said Achint. While she was not acting, the actress involved herself with more theatre work and films. She did a Punjabi film, too.
“When I decided that I won’t be working for TV I knew theatre is my calling. Theatre is the medium that breaks your mould completely. The director will do everything to carve a character from your personality. It is a process but it gives an actor immense satisfaction. I did three plays back to back and all three are successfully running even now. Films like Two States kept happening while I did theatre,” said Achint.
She feels happy that today there are many options for an actress like her in films. She said, “There are all kind of films being made today and I am very excited to play different kind of character roles. Our film industry has changed so much and for good. I want to be part of this change and work on more challenging and real characters,” she ended.