I still get offered quality work and that's encouraging: Sakshi Tanwar
She was part of your drawing rooms for eight long years as the homely Parvati Bhabhi and now Sakshi Tanwar has changed tracks; she's turned host with Crime Patrol. The actress talks to TellyChakkar about this and much more.
What made you take up hosting?
I found Crime Patrol interesting, so it didn't take me long before accepting it. I had worked hard as Parvati in Kahani Ghar Ghar Ki so I gathered all the praise and appreciation I had earned from my viewers for the past eight years and decided to reconnect with them in a new way. I get a chance to meet all of them, talk to them and they just open their doors to me and share their problems simply because they treat me as family!
After playing a lead in Kahani Ghar Ghar Ki, how satisfying is it to host a crime show?
Hosting is different from acting in a daily soap. I enjoyed doing Kahani... and now I would like to enjoy hosting Crime Patrol. My Parvati bhabhi image is helping me a lot to connect with people whom I am meeting in the course of the show. They all welcome me, still call me by my character name and I feel really very connected to them when they confide in me. I would love to help them on a personal level too and in fact this is my first step towards it. All this is more satisfying than doing a show.
One remembers watching you as a victim in Bhanwar, a crime show and now you are hosting one on the same lines…
Life has come a full circle here. Bhanwar was my first satellite show that happened in 1999 and now after 10 years I have got a chance to host such a show. It's strange. I never imagined life will change so much for me. I am now getting a chance to deal with real cases, see them from the police' point of view, not being judgmental about it, present all the viewpoints…it's difficult to be detached about it but we do get involved in it, it affects us when we hear victims and their families shares their stories.
Have you ever personally dealt with social problems?
Yes I have. My father was in CBI and always taught me to fight back. He just said one thing that you should not come home crying and I follow this even today. During college I have come across a lot of eve-teasing and I have fought back.
You portrayed the character of a conservative bahu for eight long years and audiences remember you for that. Do you think that this image is creating problems for you in getting another shows as a lead actress?
No I don't think that my image is creating any problem. Of course the audience remembers me for Kahani… which was on air for a long time but then audiences have seen only that part of me. But as an actor I will do only what I feel like and it was my conscious decision to be on a sabbatical. I can't tell you the number of people who approached me while Kahani… was on air, when it went off-air and even today. But I wanted to take some time off acting and spend some time alone. Now, it's more about what I want to do than what I can do. If you are an actor you are somehow expected to be visible all the time but I think the audience too needs a break. They will get bored watching the same actors all the time and hence I did not take up any show in a hurry.
Didn't you miss being on-air every day?
Yes I did miss it but it's a phase and I am now done with it. When you work in a show for such a long period then you definitely get very attached to it but I left everything on the sets as soon as I packed up for the day. The same happened on the day when the show went off-air. It was all over for me and life moved on.
What were you doing all these months?
I used all this time to grow professionally. I have been working as creative head for a show called Samman: Ek Adhikar and I can't tell you how wonderful it feels to be behind the camera! I have been suggesting my friends to experience it once because there is so much more to learn here. Acting is just one aspect.
These are so many new comers who have taken over the television industry. Does it bother you?
No it doesn't bother me and I think it should not bother anyone because we too were newcomers once and when we first appeared on TV, the media went about town writing how the fresh faces had come to stay! That was 10 years ago when there was Neena Guptaji and her show Saans, even today she is around so I feel there is place for everyone and new or old, work will come to you if you are talented enough. Quality work is still offered to me and that's encouraging.
Do you see yourself in any of today's faces?
Yes I have seen a lot of passion and enthusiasm in many of the new comers and for sure they will go places. I think Ratan Rajput of Agle Janam Mohe Bitiyan Hi Kijo is extremely talented and same goes with Avika Gor (Anandi) and Vibha Anand (Suguna) of Balika Vadhu.
Any offers from Ekta Kapoor? It seems she is in no mood to repeat actors from her previous shows?
(Laughs) I think you should ask Ekta about it.
Why didn't you take up any reality shows?
I was offered one and I closed my eyes to imagine myself doing it but then I couldn't see myself fitting into a reality show space so I don't think I will ever do them.
You have toned down a lot. Are you preparing for any new show?
No. I lost weight because I just wanted to be fit. I had all the time in the world and I used all of it to pamper myself. I must mention my trainer Vaibhav and he is not a high profile fitness trainer. I have a gym in my colony and he is one of the fitness consultants there and he helped me tone down. I have also been doing Yoga to remain fit.
What are your upcoming projects?
A film, Saloon by Pritish Nandy Communications. I am playing a firebrand woman in the movie and it's a cameo. It's very different from what I have been doing all these years and I am sure you will enjoy it.
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