'I want to portray a negative character'

ASPIRING ACTRESS

A 17-year old Delhi girl, Disha Parmar became a popular face overnight when she was selected by Rajshri Productions for their serial Pyaar ka Dard hai Meetha Meetha Pyaara Pyaara (PDMMPP). She grabbed the coveted offer with both hands and life changed, for she came to be known as Pankhuri, her character in the serial.

As her soap completes one year, Metrolife gets candid with Pankhuri aka Disha on life post television and memories of her ‘darling’ Delhi. “I studied in Sadhu Vaswani International School for Girls in Shanti Niketan and was always a part of theatre. Be it the school’s annual day or any other celebration, I was always on stage. Mostly acting and at times, dancing too,” she shares reminiscing about her school days where her passion for acting began.

“I was not studious but never bunked school and was a serious student though a mastikhor too.” Pursuing Humanities then, Disha thought of taking up English (Hons) in college but that “dream remained a dream,” she shares and adds, “At the back of my mind I knew I had to make my career in acting and so began modelling even before passing the screen test for the serial.”

Since then, “life has changed a lot. Initially, I was leading a very normal life with my focus on only school and studies. But now I am in Mumbai, working for 12-13 hours daily and don’t have time to think about anything else!”

Name Delhi and she starts salivating. “The food is what I miss the most (sic). From eating chole bhature to shopping at Pacific Mall, I miss it all,” she exclaims.

What made her accept the serial was the brand name of the production house, the broadcasting channel – Star Plus and an established star cast. “I had heard horror stories from other television actors about production houses and consider myself lucky to work with Rajshri since they maintain a very warm atmosphere during the shoots.”

Also, “the serial’s story was fresh and not like every other typical saas-bahu saga where the daughters-in-law cover their heads with pallu!”

Elaborating on her portrayal of Pankhuri at the age of 18, Disha says, “Pankhuri is a normal 23 or 24-year old girl but with mature thoughts. In reality though I am younger than her but I am not like a regular teenager.”

To the extent that irrespective of her inborn innocent appearance, Disha is keen to play grey characters on screen. “Right now I’m happy playing Pankhuri. But I really want to portray a negative character.”

So much so that if in future she gets “something good” on big screen, Disha says that she will, “move forward”!