Rashi Mal is excited about the third season of Arré sci-fi series, A.I.SHA My Virtual Girlfriend. “I came in at the fag end of the first season, as one of the two coders of AISHA.
“Abigail has a lot of issues in her life and the organization, Maya, which controls the A.I.SHA My Virtual Girlfriend project, plays a stellar role in holding my character together. The third episode of Season 3 will be live from Wednesday and there are 3 more in the current spell.”
What makes A.I.SHA My Virtual Girlfriend the long-running desi web series? “Well, I guess Artificial Intelligence is the new in-thing. I give kudos to Arré for having tried its hand at something most web players are currently keeping their distance from, though I wonder why. AISHA has really worked very well; no wonder we have come up with its third season,” added Rashi, who has also done several TV shows such as Paanch 5 Wrongs Make A Right (Channel V), MTV Webbed Season 2, Love By Chance (Bindass), etc.
When asked about the CG quality of AISHA, she says, “The makers, understanding the lack of budgets, have played smart; nowhere does it look tacky.”
On a lighter note, Rashi added, “I would love to get my hands on my own AI which, due to its merits of huge information, would enable me to just travel.”
Here Rashi fears that with the rising amount of automaton and people losing their jobs, a time might come, as sci-fi flicks show, when robots have taken over from redundant humans, “Though that seems far-fetched with current levels of technology.”
Since you have worked with Raghu Ram in A.I.SHA My Virtual Girlfriend, how was the experience? “As opposed to his Roadies public perception, he is a very generous co-star and also very humble,” says Rashi, who has worked in other web series such as Boygiri (Alt Balaji) and Time Out.
Rashi, who played the girlfriend of Riddhi Sen in Helicopter Eela, found the experience of working with Kajol, her favourite star since years, as surreal. “Doing such niche films really helps newcomers like me to find my feet in this highly competitive industry.”
Looking ahead, she would love to do more digital products and is not really perturbed about going bold if the character requires. “I have no issue with nudity per se. The current phase is only to be expected, with makers finally coming out of strict censor norms.”