EXCLUSIVE INTERVIEW! Sriti Jha: The Chemistry Comes From The Comfort That You Share With Your Co-Actor

'I Am Very Comfortable With Shabbir'

Q. Speaking about Darmiyaan, when you are enacting on screen, you make use of body language, voice modulation, gestures and expressions to convey emotions to the audience. But when it comes to an audio show, here you have got only your voice to express and you leave the rest to audience's imagination, which means everyone will interpret it in their own way. How challenging does this process get for you as an actor?

A. It's extremely challenging because you don't have your eyes or your body to express anything, but it's also a learning process. You learn to use your voice, pauses and breath very differently to establish the emotion of a certain scene and it's very intriguing to achieve that as an actor. It's very interesting space to be in.

Q. Did you discover anything new about yourself while going through this process? Was there any moment when you were a little taken aback like, 'Oh my God, Sriti, you can even do this!'?

A. I still don't know if I can do this (audio show). I just know that I have put my best foot forward, but I don't know if I can still do it. As an actor, you are constantly learning and changing. I am sure that there's so much more that I can learn. But aisa Eureka moments toh abhi tak hua nahin because I needed guidance for every scene. I had to do them again and again to achieve what has gone eventually and become the show. Till the last scene actually, I had to do several retakes to get it right. So, aisa Eureka moment toh mujhe ab tak visual acting mein nahin aaya toh audio toh abhi shuru kiya hai... (laughs)

Q. You and Shabbir Ahluwalia are one of the most loved pairs on screen. People love your chemistry. How was your dynamics with him this time because in this case, you had to make the audience feel the chemistry rather than see it?

A. The chemistry is very organic. I didn't think that there's any structure to it which needs to be followed step wise. Nothing like pehle haath milao, phir ek chair pe baitho, phir yeh karo ya woh karo, aise nahin hota. It just happens magically one day. So, I think it comes from the comfort that you share with your co-actor and I am very comfortable with Shabbir. Not just me but he makes anyone very comfortable when they are working with him or they are around him. He just has so much fun that you forget that it's work. Coming to Darmiyaan, the first time when I recorded a scene with Shabbir and heard him say his lines as Ridhaan (his character), I was amazed and was like, 'Oh my God, this is new.' To work together for seven years and get the opportunity to explore something so new with someone that I admire and adore so much, is amazing.

'I Would Love To Do All Kinds Of Work As An Actor But The Opportunity To Do Big Screen Hasn't Come Yet'

Q. The show Darmiyaan revolves around the flip side of a relationship. It shows how your character Sakshi ends up finding her true self when she meets Shabbir's character Ridhaan. Did you identify with your character in any way?

A. Oh, I did! With Sakshi, what I assume and understood is that she is just so busy organizing her life around her family and her responsibilities that she has completely lost control of her own life and cannot gain it back. That happens to me several times in life. I feel like my life isn't in my control. But basically, your life has to be lived. Jab problem aati hai, apka solution direction-oriented hota hain. This is what Sakshi learns from Ridhaan in Darmiyaan. She learns that now she has to direct herself to the solution rather than sitting on the problem and cribbing about it. I think this happens with me a lot of times. I have learnt from Sakshi that you should head towards the solution instead.

Q. I have observed your work right from the start and I must say, you have made some really interesting choices when it came to television. But did you never think about making your transition to the big screen like some of Kumkum Bhagya co-stars, Mrunal Thakur and Shabbir Ahluwalia?

A. Actually, I would love to say that I picked my work but I have been very lucky. I have gone ahead and done a show wherein I got selected in the first audition itself. The first audition that I get through is the show that I do. And speaking about the plunge into the big screen, I would love to do all kinds of work as an actor but the opportunity hasn't come yet. Again, I haven't got through an audition that will make me do films, OTT or any other medium. I got through auditions for TV and that's the work which happened and I hope something else also happens. But, I am quite glad with the work that I have done until now.

Q. If you had to visualize yourself on the big screen, is there any particular role or narrative in which you would like to see yourself in?

A. It can be anything that I can connect to. For example, Darmiyaan, I would have never imagined myself as a voice artist six-seven years ago or even a year ago. But it happened. So, it's such an adventurous choice of profession which I have made that I am hopeful about many new things happening in my life. It's such an amazing opportunity like to do an audio show. I am so glad with the onset of this medium because of Audible. Now, there will be more opportunities to do audio shows as well apart from other audio-visual mediums that we have.

'The Art That You Create As An Actor Is Dependent On A Lot Of Things'

Q. When you are doing a TV show (Kumkum Bhagya) for a long period of time, the biggest challenge for an actor is to keep himself/herself relevant. Like, you ponder about how will you come up with new things every day. How do you deal with these thoughts? Is that something that you wake up to every morning or keeps you on your toes?

A. (pauses) See, as actors, it isn't an exclusive art. It's inclusive, right? You get the script, the director, and the art that you create is dependent on a lot of other things. I have been very lucky with that. Even though we have been doing Kumkum Bhagya for seven years now, the story also takes these changes wherein the character keeps changing. So, my idea of every day is doing the best that I can and it comes from the knowledge that I have gained till now. So, it's the mix of the new opportunities that I get and from the knowledge that I have garnered from the old stuff that I have done. Main yeh nahin bolti ki har roz mujhe kuch naya karna hain, par main joh karun usmein apna best aur honest efforts daalon, yeh mera intention hota hain. Whether that's new or not, that's generally not in my control but yes, doing something new is always interesting. But how to make something new I already have, I think I am lucky in that way because the script keeps changing.

Like you know in Darmiyaan too, this was presented to me as an opportunity and I could make it new because Sakshi is very different from Pragya. So, I have always got that opportunity but I am very lazy too. Matlab sorry to say but I am questioning myself that I don't wake up to anything new. (laughs). But the honest answer is that I try to do my best with what work I get.

'Acting Is The Best Escape'

Q. What's the best thing about being an actor besides the fact that you get a chance to live several lives and fantasies? What is it that attracts you towards this art?

A. I mean that's the best thing. Acting is the best escape. There's no other kind of art where you get to be another person. It's mad and bizarre that you are completely not living your life. Like for me, Pragya is a real person. When I am playing Pragya, that's Sriti and it's amazing. I love it because between that action and cut, you don't exist. That's the best thing about being an actor.

'Actors Always Remember The Scenes Which They Have Done Badly More than The Ones That They Have Done Well'

Q. Does it get difficult for you to get out of a character when you are playing it for a long time?

A. No, I switch off very easily. Instead, sometimes it gets difficult to create a character. Sometimes the scenes are difficult. It's not like every scene is a cakewalk. Sometimes, I really regret because I can't achieve something or do a certain scene well. I feel an actor always remembers the scenes which they have done badly more than the ones that they have done well (laughs). But, it doesn't get difficult to sort of live as Sriti. That has never happened. Yes, the scenes are sometimes difficult. But it's always a challenge, I mean it's another kind of achievement to pull off a difficult scene. But it doesn't get difficult to live as an actor. I think it's a fun life.

Q. Besides Sriti- the actor, there's another side to you wherein you are quite an avid reader and a wordsmith. Your social media page is filled with a lot of stuff related to literature. Do you have plans of writing a novel or maybe a script for a film or something on that lines?

A. Actually no. I don't write very often. It's like five poems in four years. So, I am not a consistent writer. I cannot and have never been able to write on instructions. So, I don't think that I will sit and write ever. But I love stories and listening to them. I love reading them and being a part of them a lot. I know that I will also be a part of story-telling, at least I want to be all my life. But writing novel is a bit commitment. Mujhse nahi ho paayega...(laughs).