Pretty and talented Rumman Ahmed who essays the lead role of Pragati in Zee TV’s Sethji is happy with her first work on television as actress.
As we know, the shoot of Sethji has wrapped up and the show will go off air in September!!
Recently we caught up with the pretty girl to talk about her journey with the show. In an exclusive talk with IndianWikiMedia.com, Rumman called her experience as good as well as rare. Rumman said, “The experience was very good for me. Unlike other experiences where the actor shoots and immediately goes on air and does not get time to look at what he / she has done, we got ample time to shoot before we came on air.”
For Rumman who has been into modelling for the last five years, this opportunity gave her the first experience of getting into dialogue delivery. “I am basically from Delhi and have been part of lot of modelling assignments. I have shot many music videos, which includes the most popular Punjabi song, ‘Khaab’. I was actually short-listed for Sethji after they came across this video of mine. The process of selection for Sethji was a long one; I went through auditions after which there were 5-6 screenings after which I got selected.”
The cast of Sethji had been shooting for the show for long, but the launch happened much later. When asked Rumman whether she was not getting upset about not being on air soon, she came up with a stunning revelation. “I have gone through all this!! In the year 2012, I was actually shooting for something which finally did not get launched. So I have already gone through the disappointment and knew its consequences.”
Rumman had it in her wish-list that she wanted to act in TV shows. “I love to act, and from my musical video exposure, I have gained a lot of popularity with the young crowd, especially the college going crowd. But then I had a wish that I need to be liked equally by the elders too, of the age of mothers, aunties and daughters-in-law. I wanted to portray the Indian bahu of TV. That was in my wish-list, and I am thankful to Sethji for fulfilling this wish-list of mine (smiles).”
Sethji had shot a huge bank of episodes even before its launch and continued to shoot its culmination before time. On the pros and cons of shooting way ahead for shows, the actress explained, “Talking about the advantages, we used to shoot at leisure without any pressure of our episodes needing to be delivered on time. When most of us in the cast faced camera for the first time in Sethji, we were freshers with no basic introduction to how things worked here. So for one month, we were actually learning more of the technicalities of shooting which was good according to me. The major disadvantage was that we used to click so many pictures while shooting. But we were stopped from posting it anywhere. Also when the show had not launched, we could not even reveal our respective looks. So this was very annoying for actors, as that enjoyment and satisfaction of opening up was not there. So when the time eventually came when we could put out stuff, we all had lost that eagerness. Above all, by the time we got to know how good or bad we were in our scenes, it was too late. When you shoot huge banks which take time to air, we usually lose out on the valuable feedback that we can get when the shot scenes go on air immediately. This actually makes a huge difference for an actor. When we get to know of all this after a long time, it is actually of no use.”
On the enjoyable time with cast on the sets of Sethji, Rumman stated, “The entire cast of the show was very sweet. In my earlier modelling experiences, I have never gelled well with anyone. But here all in the team was so friendly and easy-going that we had a great ambience. It is a rarity when all gel well with all in a show. Both the freshers and the experienced actors used to enjoy to the core. We have had all the fun possible in between work. If one asked for tea, then the whole unit would have tea. Such was the unity.”
Rumman has a special mention for her experienced co-actor Gurdeep Kohli with whom she had lot of on-screen interactions. “When I was shooting my first scene with Gurdeepji, I was really scared and nervous. But when we started performing, and she started saying her dialogues, she made the surrounding so very positive that everything happened and fell in place. When you are performing with her, the situation created is such that acting happens from you automatically. I learned a lot from Gurdeepji. I learned that as a good actor, the lines should not be memorized, but the basic plot of the sequence needs to be understood.”
Rumman shared memorable time with three of her co-actors. “I had great time with all. But with few of them, I hangout even now. There is Riya Chand who played my Bhabhi in the show. We gel very well. Of course, Baji aka Avinash Mishra and I go a long way as we had to shoot together always. Also, Worshipp Khanna aka Ganesh is fun loving and hard-working too. He is a great friend and has advised me a lot.”
The actress accepts that she is very different from Pragati in real life. “I am very shy in real life. I really don’t know how I manage to face the camera. But even now, there is one split second where when the camera gets on, my heart skips a beat.”
Rumman is a big fan of Shahrukh Khan. On her hobbies, she averred, “Watching SRK’s movies and his songs.”
The actress does not shy away from telling that she works as an actor for her own benefit. “I love to see myself on screen. I have this habit that I see myself so often on screen that I always need new stock to watch me on TV. I must have seen all my episodes of Sethji twice.”
Rumman feels that she has grown with time as an actor. “Well, there is certainly a long way to go. But the advantage now is that I can understand the situation of a scene and lines come by its own. Earlier I used to be very tense about not able to memorize my lines. I used to make myself very heavy, but acting comes out naturally now.”
On her future plans, she stated, “I wanted to take a break. But then I realized that this is the time to work hard. So I am on the lookout for my next project.”
Rumman, wish you all the very best in life!!