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Her million-dollar smile is to die for . “Yes, everyone tells me my smile is infectious and they wish I would smile more often.”

A topper always : I was very good academically. I have been a topper throughout. Like many North Indian girls, I too aspired to make it through the Civil Services and become an IAS officer, and I was pretty serious about it. At the same time I actively participated in extra curricular activities like debates, drama, dance and so on, but never once thought that acting would one day be my profession. I did take up small roles for tele serials on Doordarshan. I also did small roles in serials for Sony and Star Plus, but they didn’t take much of my time. It also meant that I didn’t have to shift base to Mumbai from Delhi where I grew up.

Rejected Kahaani ... thrice : “During one of my visits to Mumbai, I was staying with our family friend, Asha Sharma, who took me along to Balaji Telefilms because she had some work there. That’s when Ekta’s aunt first noticed me. She asked me to leave my pictures behind. I left some serial shots as I had no profile shots. Till date I don’t have them. A month later I came back for my other serial Yeh Jeevan hai , and coincidentally lost a dupatta of a suit, while shooting for the Balaji pilot for Kahaani. ..for Star Plus. So I went to Balaji looking for it. They saw that I was in Mumbai and cast me for a bhabhi role in another serial (later called Karam, on SAB TV). Ekta met me here on the sets, and said, ‘You are Parvati.’ I wondered who’s she talking to. Ekta then told me about this role of a badi bahu, and that I would be the central character. I was very apprehensive about taking up the role. I didn’t believe her as I wondered how could a badi bahu have a central role? Ekta explained the serial would be like Kyunki... that was already being aired.

I had three excuses for not being a part of Kahaani ... but Ekta made sure they all crumbled like sand mountain. Firstly, I did not want to play the role of a woman with a teenaged daughter, and bespectacled husband. So Ekta pulled back the serial by 10 years. The serial, therefore, shows that Parvati got married when she was only 19!

My next problem was that I could only spend 30 days in Mumbai, as I didn’t want to shift base to Mumbai as I was shooting for Rajdhani in Delhi. Ekta agreed to give me dates till every 15th. My last weapon was money and I quoted an ‘unthinkable’ amount. Ekta immediately said ‘done’. She told me that within a week people will start calling me Parvati: She was right.”

Mom showed the way : “I remember on the first day after shooting from 8 am to 11 pm, I was so exhausted, and called my mom and told her that I made a wrong decision. I remember when my mom telling me, ‘Stick by your decision. We are all proud of you. Don’t call me again to regret it.’ I finally stopped rethinking. We no longer have such long working hours. In fact, Kahaani... has the most organised set.”

Parvati Vs Sakshi: “Sakshi remains the same. The role has influenced me by making me
confident and mature. Never in my wildest dream did I think I would be living alone in Mumbai, but I did. I’m the youngest in the family and very pampered. I had lived in a very protected environment. But after Kahani .. life just changed. I was all alone in the big city managing everything. I am completely the opposite of Parvati, who is the decision maker solving everyone’s problem. I make others solve my problems!