New Delhi, May 30 : Actress Aaditi Pohankar said her on-screen character, Parminder aka Pammi in the ‘Aashram’ series, is quite close to her and she relates to her role in many ways.
“The foremost similarity between me and Pammi is I would say courage and truth, which I stand up for and my ethics which come from my family, I think that’s the basis of who I am as well.”
The Prakash Jha-directorial features Bobby Deol in the lead role as self-proclaimed godman Baba Nirala. While he is seen as the antagonist, Pammi as a protagonist does everything to bring the Baba down.
While being in the series for three seasons, playing Pammi has always been challenging for Aaditi.
She tells IANS: “I work very hard. I had to put on weight, which I did some 9 to 10 kilos in the first season. I had to look like a wrestler and I’m actually a runner and I was a sprinter. In Maharashtra we don’t really have wrestling arenas, they are only mostly towards Haryana. So to understand the body language and entire look of a wrestler, I can’t go just somewhere in Mumbai as there’s badminton and there are other things which are mostly played. So, what I did was I played a smart game. I asked Sir whether I can just spend some time with wrestling girls.And they are very sweet and just too humble.
“They did the proper physio with me and everything. So I went there and I became one with them. So, I started going and hanging out in the tabelas and started drinking badam milk. It was a new experience for me. I was just so impressed with their courage and how they face challenges or injuries during wrestling events.”
Aaditi continued that now for this season she has to reduce weight and this makes this role challenging as well as interesting as it has many shades.
While talking about her experience of being part of the series after doing the web show ‘She’, the actress: “When I joined the show I was quite new. I just did ‘She’. And the role I have to play in this series was poles apart from what I played in ‘She’. Pammi is a very different character. She is a 19-year old girl who has faced a lot because of baba (Bobby Deol), I had to bring that emotional turmoil she is going through in the character.
“Her entire world shakes and now there is only revenge in her mind. So, from being an innocent young girl to a completely changed person and bringing that on-screen was never easy.”
Aaditi had all the praises for lead actor Bobby Deol and she called the entire experience ‘terrific’ and amazing.
“Working with Bobby was a terrific experience because he has been in the industry for so long and is such a big name but still he is a childlike person. Initially when I remember that I had to rehearse with a lot of scepticism. And he kept saying ‘you have to work very hard’ and used to give examples of how he worked initially in the industry. He’s very supportive. He’s very childlike, and more like a friend.”
Asked about the USP of this show, she replied: “I think the USP of this show is that it brings out the truth of the society. There are many people who are taking advantage of the innocence of common people. And there are innocent people who are genuinely lost, because the times are such and industrialisation has taken over the minds of the people in such a manner where, unless you have a certain product, people are thinking they’re not worthy enough to talk to you. So, when this kind of a mindset is set, people like these hold around, and then eventually they try to lure you in their faith.
“At the same time, I would say, I’m a person of faith, I believe in the universe, I believe in energy. And I think when you meet a real master, or a real guru that person just guides you and doesn’t ask you for money and I know such a person and they have the positive vibe that gives you hope and aspirations.”
Bollywood actress Esha Gupta has joined the cast in this season and Aaditi feels her entry has added a lot of speculations and interest quotient in the story.
“I think she is going to bring a lot of speculation on what’s going to happen. I’m not I’m not allowed to say much but from what I have seen from there I think that that element of spice which will come around of what baba is doing next and at the same time for me is playing on his mind. I think that it’s going to be like a very fresh flavour to the season that’s going on. And also it will add a lot to Pammi’s journey because you can see that you know, even when she’s intimate with baba, he is thinking about Pammi and it will make the audience think why he is thinking so much about Pammi. What is such a big deal about her? But he has a fear of getting defeated from her and that makes him think about Pammi.”
The ‘Lai Bhaari’ actress also added that she always wanted to work with a director like Prakash Jha.
“I would say that I always wanted to work with somebody like Prakash Jha because he’s a veteran director and because of this character people started recognising me. Recently I went to Manali on a solo trip and for my stay they were not taking money from me. They love me so much. So, this fame and love came because of my character Pammi, the role I got because of him. He is the captain of the ship and he never gets tired. He Ais very particular about every minute detail and he motivates me a lot.”
The actress hopes after this season is over she will get more interesting and good work.
“I’ve spoken with some people and I’m hoping to get more scripts which are strong and I want to do romance because romance will take a lot of strength. So, I think there’s going to be a mix and match of different scripts that I’m looking forward to.”
She concluded with: “I really would love to work with Ranbir Kapoor. He is a good actor. He is like a complete entertainment package.”
Directed by Prakash Jha, the series also stars Anupriya Goenka, Adhyayan Suman, and Tridha Choudhury.
‘Aashram 3’ will stream on MX Player from June 3.(IANS)