EXCLUSIVE: Madalsa Chakraborty on Anupamaa, Aditi Gupta's exit, TRP pressure and playing Kavya
Anupamaa managed to strike the right chord with the audience since the first day and in an exclusive chat, we spoke to Madalsa Chakraborty, who is seen playing the role of Kavya on the show. She opened up on TRP pressure, and more.
Anupamaa starring Rupali Ganguly, Sudhanshu Pandey and Madalsa Chakraborty in pivotal roles has been topping the TRP charts since its opening week. The show managed to strike the right chord with the audience since the first day and in an exclusive chat, we spoke to Madalsa, who is seen playing the role of Kavya on the show. Before Madalsa, Additi Gupta was roped in to play the role but after lockdown when the shoots resumed, Additi was found to be COVID 19 positive. The role then went to Chakraborty. Speaking to us, Madalsa revealed that the role was initially offered to her but at that time, she couldn't do it. Madalsa also expressed how happy she feels to know that the show has managed to touch the audience's heart. Over to her:
The show has been reigning and how. How does it feel?
It feels great to be a part of anything that is successful and knowing that you are also contributing to it and to be able to be in that place for an actor is amazing and that is the appreciation any actor looks forward to.
Additi was actually going to play Kavya....
Actually, no. Before Additi was approached, I was in talks for Kavya's character but due to prior commitments then I couldn't be a part of the show that time. There was something else which was happening and due to that it didn't work out. After the unfortunate incident which happened with Additi, the character came back to me and this time it worked out, so I believe destiny played a role here.
Oh, Kavya is a character who is not out and out grey, she is very balanced who has her own quirks and individual personality... how difficult is it to portray it?
That was the cherry on top, when you play a out and out grey character, this gave me an opportunity to play a real character. She is not really grey, she reacts to situations and is real. I felt personally that this is an exciting character because even when you do a grey character, eventually you end up doing the same thing, same expressions, same reactions. It becomes repetitive and not something I will be excited about. People today know how a grey character would behave, it is very predictable. Kavya is not predictable. People are loving that part in her. Kavya has so many layers to her personalities. She is a very practical and ambitious person too.
How has the feedback been so far?
When you play a character which is on the lines of a 'baharwali' usually people get negative about her but I feel blessed that whatever feedback I have got so far, I haven't received a single bad comment. Nowadays audience are also very sharp and are not shy of expressing their opinion. People are seeing the positive side and how strong she is looking when they look at Kavya without stereotyping her.
Post lockdown, there seemed to be a lot of worry amongst the producers over TRPs. Did you feel that pressure too?
No, I take that rather in the way that we have to be consistent. We should keep on performing well. As actors, we have to focus on our craft, there are many other factors that are contributing to the success of the show. being under pressure will only hamper our performance, we should just be focused on our performance. We have created a benchmark and we hope to maintain that.
How is it with everyone on sets? Whom have you bonded with?
Everyone is so warm on sets, be it the director, the production. Personally, I have a lot of scenes with Sudhanshu, so I have a good bond with him. But, when I have scenes with rest of family also, it is a such an enriching experience.
On a parting note, she also revealed that all precautionary measures are being taken very seriously on the sets and that she feels great about it. The show has been produced by Rajan Shahi.