The actor talks about her new show on Life OK, her equation with Jai Kalra, coming back to the small screen, her forthcoming movies and the desire to work with her hubby Varun Badola
Rajeshwari Sachdev is an extremely talented actor, who brings grace, poise and character into every role she plays. We caught the first few episodes of Laut Aao Trisha and were amazed to the level of her performance even in such a small character. Acting is her passion and we felt her exuberance for the art in her words and body language. Here are excerpts from our interaction with her…
What drew you to take up Laut Aao Trisha?
It’s a good show and the story is adapted from the Spanish Telly-novel. Even though the backdrop is of a missing girl, it’s ultimately a story of relationships. When a girl from the family goes missing you are upset, but there are a lot of questions that pop up in your mind. And most them make you uncomfortable even if they are unrelated to the issue. As an actor it’s very interesting to do something like this.
You are coming to the small screen after a long time. What have you been doing all this while?
I did a film, Issaq which released last year. I did Samhita – a Marathi movie which went on to win some 30 odd awards. Then there is Dombivali Returns which will soon release. I want to do some Bengali films too, but nothing has come my way yet. I have been doing limited work after all it’s not easy to do all this with a four year old son. He takes up most of my time. But I did get some great work in the meanwhile.
The telly industry demands at least 12-15 hours of work per day. How are you managing your work, baby and home?That’s precisely why I did not do television for seven years now. TV is very time consuming; it demands that much time and I was not willing to do it at that time. Now that he is four and this is a finite series it’s perfect for me. I know this will not go on forever, plus, I have a limited number of working days on the show every month. It’s exciting to work with a whole bunch of creative people – the writer Raghuveer, producer Bhairavi Raichuria, director Nandita Mehra and some great actors. I would be stupid to say no to such exciting work.
How is your equation with everyone on the sets of the show?
Well, we do share a great camaraderie. Whenever good actors meet the chemistry is bound to be awesome – that’s our work. We all get along very well; after all we have to face each other everyday.
What’s so bold and controversial about Laut Aao Trisha?
Every relationship has a line, which should not be crossed. That is the social conditioning we’ve all grown up with, since childhood. When you try to question that or cross it, you will make a lot of people very uncomfortable. But you cannot deny its existence. Yes it’s bold to take such a step on Hindi GECs and we know we will upset a few people. But if they’re being honest to themselves, they will realise that it is true and it does happen.
Don’t you fear that doing something so bold can somehow affect your image?
What kind of image do I have as an actor? Fortunately, I am not restricted in any image. I’m a free bird and can do anything I want. For an actor in order to market himself – image is necessary, to move in a slot – image is necessary. But for people like us, image is not necessary we only have to be good at what we do, which is acting.
What is the one thing you can tell people to convince them to watch your show?
We have a great story, actors, technicians and professionals at work here – so come with an open mind and watch us.
What’s your take on Jai Kalra on the show?
Jai and I play siblings on the show. He is such a wonderful human being and a delight to work with. Well he is handsome and we’ve had some fantastic scenes together which has been a lot of fun.
Are you doing any show or movie with Varun Badola?
I am waiting for someone to call us with something interesting. We are such good actors; we need to set the screen on fire.