After a gap of eight years and featuring in some 160 commercials and 13 shows, Umang Jain is back on television with Zee’s Maharakshak Devi. She talks to Karan Bhardwaj about being a huge Jackie Chan fan and doing action scenes herself
She’s bubbly, chirpy and she calls herself a ‘chocolatey’ girl. But looks can deceit. Mumbai girl Umang Jain has got the right balance of strength and emotion that Zee TV’s latest superwoman Devi would exemplify on screen in show Maharakshak Devi. It is easy to dismiss Umang in a first glance, especially for a strong character like Devi, the character that will indulge in some high-intensity action with evil powers, thanks to her adorability and not-so-tall appearance, but it’s her ‘inner strength’ and martial arts training that got the production house impressed. “I auditioned like normal contestants. During the tests, I held the basic thread of the character firmly. So they knew I could pull it off. I wanted to challenge myself so I decided to take up this role,” says a spirited Umang.
The channel had preset requirements of a sturdy and a strong woman for the character of Devi but Umang not only defied those needs but she redefined the character with her own identity. She is charming and holds a Brown belt in karate. “This is a breakthrough role. Everyone who thought I was cute and fragile would be shocked. This show presents me as someone really strong. You don’t have to be physically strong to be able to pull off mammoth tasks. If you are mentally strong, you can do anything. As an actor, it is my job to convince people and I’m sure I would be able to do that,” she says.
Umang is a huge Jackie Chan fan and has seen his 70 to 80 movies. “I’ve been very strong as a person. I love doing action. In school, I learnt karate so I know the basics of handling my body weight. When this show came my way, I just grabbed it whole-heartedly. I’m doing most of the action scenes myself. Flying through cables wearing a harness are quite exciting,” she says.
Maharakshak Devi is the second part of the Maharakshak trilogy that began with Aryan. It’s a finite series and Devi will be seen fighting evils, reflecting the contemporary issues against women. “Even if a single girl opts for self-defence techniques after watching this show, my mission will be accomplished. Be it crime against women, like molestation or rapes or gender inequality, we are trying to make a strong comment through the show,” she says.
Umang laughs it off that she doesn’t look like an experienced actor and the fact that she is coming back to television after a gap of eight years. She says she started working in showbiz quite early and took a sabbatical to finish her academics. For the record, she holds Masters in Entrepreneurship Development and PR and Advertising as well. “I started very young. I did some 13 shows like Joostju, Hungama and two Hindi movies — love Breakups Zindagi and Shakal Pe Mat Ja. Shakal Pe Mat Ja was India’s official entry in New York Film Festival. After that, my parents advised me to concentrate on education. So I started modelling. As a model, I featured in some 160 commercials and endorsed top brands,” she says with pride.
She is also shooting a Telugu movie.