Young actress Naina Singh is happy to have got into the groove of shooting for a daily series fairly quickly with Kumkum Bhagya!!
Naina who has tasted success in reality shows MTV Splitsvilla and India’s Next Superstars, never wanted to get into the TV zone. However, lady luck gave her the opportunity of playing one of the new generation leads in the successful and long-running Balaji Telefilms show on Zee TV.
Says Naina, “It is amazing to play Rhea. It is one such character that will make you play with it all the time. She has a variety to display – she’s the nice girl to her father, the laadli of her house, a diva in college, and with Prachi she is a wicked girl who can go to any length to harm her. It is a nice feeling to live every moment of this role through these variations provided. I am glad that I am part of Kumkum Bhagya.”
Naina had different plans but God showed her the path of acting on TV. “I never wanted to do TV. I wanted to try my luck in films and web space. However, I am where I am today. I am quite happy being part of the Balaji Telefilms family. I am sure I will reach where I want to one fine day.”
Ask her about the response got for being so bitchy on screen, and she states, “You will not believe it when I say that viewers love me for what I am. I was also shocked seeing the response initially. I have got messages saying that even if I was portraying a negative role, people do not want to hate me. I have got messages saying that people love what Rhea does. I guess today’s generation is more keen to know the other side of a person. I suppose villains are more famous these days (smiles). I actually gained 100 K followers on my social account in the very first week. Yes, the only bad feeling is that viewers of Kumkum Bhagya did not want to have a leap in the first case. However, with the leap shown, people are enjoying the story now.”
Naina has a very interesting way of describing Rhea, as she says, “She is ‘PHT which stands for ‘pretty hot and tempting’ (smiles). She is like a hurricane who is very unpredictable in her approach and reactions. Frankly she is not a bad girl. She has always been surrounded by people who have been provoking her to do bad. I would call her immature, who can be misguided very easily. She has been a girl who has grown up missing her mother. Everything has become so messed up in her life that she has reached a point where she is what she is now.”
Naina and Rhea are like chalk and cheese. “The two of them are very different people. Naina is someone who is the man of the house. She is responsible, mature, caring. I don’t have any ego hassles. I have very few friends unlike Rhea. I have my father and mother loving me equally. I might be like Rhea when it comes to giving back when needed. However, I will not cross a limit and will not go to the extent of harming someone.”
Naina is happy to be in the company of the co-actors that she has on the set. “On the first day, I was very nervous when I was to shoot with Shabir Sir. All the senior actors have 10 to 15 years of experience and I was having a miserable feeling shooting with them. But soon things were in control as all my senior actors made me feel comfortable. These people have literally made me stand and deliver. I owe a lot to Shabir Sir, Shruti Mam, Shikha Mam and others. The energy on the sets is so lively that we feel like family.”
On the equation she shares with her onscreen enemy Prachi aka Mugdha Chaphekar, Naina states, “Mugdha and I are like sisters off the screen. We are always in a happy zone when together. We have noticed that we have a similar smile. Guess we are cast as sisters for a reason (smiles).”
On Krishna Kaul, Naina shares, “He is a cute and nice guy. He is like Kanha on the set, just like his onscreen persona. He works really hard and is a gem of a person.”
Naina looks forward to having a great time in the role of Rhea in Kumkum Bhagya.
Best of luck, girl!!
