Talented actress Supriya Shukla has portrayed the popular character of Sarla Arora in Zee TV’s top-rated show Kumkum Bhagya and its successful spin-off, Kundali Bhagya to the best of her abilities!!
For Supriya, her journey as Sarla in Kumkum Bhagya has been like a dream. However, the actress is a bit upset that she’s not been shooting for the parent show now. “To be very honest, I have not been shooting for Kumkum Bhagya for nearly 4 months now. I am little annoyed about it. Kumkum Bhagya is my show and I am very much attached to it. But I do understand the idea of the writers to balance the story in Kundali Bhagya, hence they are not writing it for me in Kumkum Bhagya. Had I known of it earlier, I would not have allowed them to do it. Honestly speaking, I am very much enjoying my stint in Kundali Bhagya. But I have done all of this in Kumkum Bhagya before.”
Talking further, she explains, “Kumkum Bhagya is running on a different tangent and story line, and it would be difficult for the writers to incorporate Sarla into the thick of things there. However, if I ever get back to Kumkum Bhagya, I will be privileged.”
On her rapport with Shraddha Arya and Anjum Fakih from Kundali Bhagya, Supriya avers, “They are brilliant girls. They are very hard working, and so are the boys Dheeraj Dhoopar and Manit Joura. Shraddha excels in the emotional scenes and is a very good actress. I have no words for Anjum; I have this habit of improvising a lot in my scenes and she handles them so very well. I have gelled well with the boys and girls of Kundali Bhagya. I must credit the casting for the show; they have been spot on.”
Supriya maintains that Kundali Bhagya has to be the best interwoven spin-off to come on air. “The projection of the spin-off has been so good, and the connection has worked wonders.
The spin-off looked nice and the story incorporated the two new girls so very beautifully. Also public loved the way in which they came into our family.”
The talented actress is all praise for the entire team of Kumkum Bhagya and Kundali Bhagya and mentions that both the teams are happy in sharing the numero uno position on the ratings chart between them. “The number one spot keeps rotating between the two shows and they have a very clear understanding (smiles).”
Sarla’s character in the spin-off has grown leaps and bounds and is a pillar in the story line. “The one good thing is that Ekta Kapoor has made my character very powerful from the beginning. I am glad that being the girl’s mother, the character is so very strong. I have had the little privilege to do my own in Kundali Bhagya as the character was very much settled. I have been given the allowance of being with the character in a new space and show. All is going great, but I would still maintain that I miss my first baby (Kumkum Bhagya). I also miss working with Sriti (Jha) and Shabbir (Ahluwalia). However, Sriti does sit with me at times for lunch as our sets are close by.”
On the huge popularity that her character has amongst the elderly ladies, Supriya shares with us, “Whenever I have gone out in public, women have come down to me and addressed their grievances and problems. They have wanted solutions from me. Thankfully for me, Sarla is not a weak mother and this gives out a strong message that mothers need to be strong.”
Talking about being a mother surrounded by daughters, the happy mom says, “It feels so nice. I have Sriti; Mrunal keeps meeting me though she’s not part of the show now. Yes, I miss my Bulbul and Mrunal will be my Bulbul forever. Also Anupriya my daughter from Tere Liye keeps meeting me. I have a close connection with all my daughters. And above all, I am mother to two daughters in real life (smiles). I think in acting, you get connected to people, and we meet few with who we connect for life. I am blessed to be getting good roles. I feel hard work needs to be so real that people should not even feel that I am acting.”
Ask her about her best role so far, and she immediately says, “It has to be Laboni from Tere Liye. Though the show was on for only 11 months, I never knew I could take myself to be the character I was. I am very thankful to Ekta for giving me Laboni. She was out of the world; I did not know that I had the capacity in me to play her. She was sensitive, yet strong. She used to cry, at the same time slap people. You have mothers like this and I loved the way the role was written. Even now, people remember me as Laboni. And if you are remembered for playing character roles, the feeling is so overpowering.”
As a parting thought, Supriya mentions her first baby Kumkum Bhagya again stating, “I am craving to be back in Kumkum Bhagya and the writers know of it. I will be immensely happy if they could write something substantial for Sarla in the parent show. After all, it is my first baby.”
Nicely said, Supriya!! We love you as Sarla, and that applies to both the shows!!