Vaishali Nazareth is enjoying TV’s current supernatural phase, doing not one but two shows of the same genre. After being part of Naagin 3, this veteran actress is now part of Zee TV’s new spooky show, Manmohini, as well.
“Fantasy supernatural is the flavour of the season. Coming to my character, Mallika brings much needed comic relief with her goofy silly self and doing all that she does. Our LSD films (Prateek Sharma) production also stands out in terms of grandeur, glamour and heavy duty masala (thrill, romance and drama), over and above the horror elements,” says Vaishali, who is also a part of Yeh Un Dino Ki Baat Hai.
How tough is it for an actor to act dumb and let people laugh at you? “Well, we all have witty and dense sides to ourselves, and as per my character, I let myself go with what is needed. Normally, I will not show my weaker side in public, but do it with élan on screen.”
Here, Vaishali admits that even after 18 years in the trade (Jhilmil Sitaaron Ka Aangan Hoga, Bhagonwali – Baante Apni Taqdeer and Qubool Hai), she still gets the jitter bugs before any major scenes. “They are common, but yes they help me to raise my bar as well. Doing Mallika has been super-fun, for I nailed her from the very first day; normally it takes a few days for me to get the hang of my character.”
“As for Naagin, I continue to have two or three scenes in every episode. It was my dream to be a part of this great Balaji Telefilms setup. I was first signed up for an important cameo and went to work very excited, but to my dismay, my character – I played Bela’s mother – was bumped off in the very first scene.”
“I alone knew what I went through that day. But I took the grief in my stride and put in my best, clutching onto the silver lining of finally breaking the jinx of not working with this premier production house. Luckily, I was called back after a couple of months for flashback scenes. I was still dead, but being seen is good enough.”
“I guess my hard work impressed the creative, and over time, my character returned from the dead. This has already happened twice. Hope real life could give us so many chances,” ended she, with a smile.