After a seven-year gap, Gautami Kapoor did make a brief comeback in 2013 but went on a sabbatical again. Now she is back with Rajan Shahi’s latest production, hoping that the show will strike a chord with the audience that is used to watching larger-than-life scenarios on the small screen. She speaks to Divya Kaushik
In an industry where actors are always on a look out for some or the other kind of work just to be in business, she is one of those few actresses who chose to take a sabbatical at the peak of her career. She did make a comeback almost two years ago with Zee TV’s Khelti Hai Zindagi Aankh Micholi. But even after that brief stint she was very particular about her roles. Somehow, producer Rajan Shahi convinced her after a lot many meetings and so we have Gautami Kapoor back on the small screen with a show that promises to stay away from clichéd concepts and storyline. While here to promote the show, the actress looked ravishing in a formal jacket and a pair of denims. She told us that this show will be an exception where she won’t be sari clad, she will be playing a modern mom to three young girls. “I am so glad that we are coming up with a show like Tere Sheher Mein which in a way represents the change that has come on television. I am happy that while I was away, a lot has changed but I think our audiences are creature of habits, they are still not ready to break away from the norm but if we keep giving them something new, they will accept it gradually. I feel this is a very good phase for actors as so many experiments are happening and I want to be part of them. Sometimes these experiments don’t work but then we should not be bogged down by the failures. If we start bringing the change now we will lay the foundation for the next generation of creatives. We just hope that the audience can get the essence of this show because they are so used to seeing painted faces and larger-than-life scenarios. But this is going to be something radically different,” she said.
Gautami took a sabbatical from work to take care of her kids and she is happy that she took that time for her family. “It was a conscious decision as my kids were small. Plus it was the busiest phase of Ram’s career. And since it has been such a busy phase for him it was unfair for me to ask him to take a back seat. No matter however progressive and forward-looking I am, I knew that if I would not manage at the home front things will get too chaotic for me. I thought I will spend time with my kids and whenever I will get a good offer I will get back to work. Initially no one believed me when I told them that I was not doing anything. I was offered a lot many shows all this while and Ram was instrumental in telling me what to accept or deny. There were times when I felt like doing a certain show but Ram asked me to see my body of work and choose something that goes with the landmark work that I have done. Thank God that I took his suggestion seriously because now when I see the fate of those shows I feel relieved that I did not do them. I am very passionate about my craft and am confident about it. So I didn’t want to indulge in anything that is beyond the boundaries of what I am capable of,” she shared.
The actress has never burdened herself with too much work at a time and even now she is focussing on just one show. “At present my entire attention concentrated on this show and I will wait for the audience response to this one,” she ended.