JOIN USThe actress who played the demure heroine in the iconic love story ‘Maine Pyar Kiya’ has now taken on a contrasting role on the telly, writes Shilpi Madan.
Svelte, soft-spoken and gorgeous as ever, actress Bhagyashree is on aggressive city tours across the country to promote her new serial, Laut Aao Trisha, which began recently on Life OK channel. We meet at her luxurious bungalow in Juhu after her return from Lucknow.
“It has a strong storyline with a performance-oriented role,” explains Bhagyashree, of her role in the serial. She is making a comeback after a hiatus following her earlier TV outings in Sambandh, in which she played the role of a woman caught between her career and her marriage fraught with extra-marital accents, and Aandhi Jasbaton Ki, in which she essayed the part of an ambitious politician.
“I got married to my childhood sweetheart Himalay Dasani as soon as I finished shooting for Maine Pyar Kiya. Then, I was busy taking care of my family. Now that my children have grown up, I have time on my hands and can invest my efforts in a greater number of projects,” she says with a bright smile.
And Bhagyashree, at 45, is in her prime. She is in great form, follows a dedicated fitness routine involving pilates and yoga, and it is tough to believe that she is the mother of 24-year-old Abhimanyu, who is training to be an actor, and daughter Avantika, 19, who is studying in London.
Gritty mom
Back to the serial. Laut Aao Trisha centres around Bhagyashree’s portrayal of a strong businesswoman, determined to find her daughter who disappears. An intriguing mesh of secrets unravel in the family tree and beyond as a result of her dogged search for her loved one.
“There are many family issues in everyday life, especially dubious events within a family, that get swept under the carpet to maintain false prestige in society. Laut Aao Trisha mirrors this aspect. In her relentless search for her child, the mother brings all her other family members under the scanner. What unfolds gradually is a gripping mix of emotions in a drama quite relevant to our times,” says Bhagyashree.
“I was tempted to take up this project due to the tight script. Also, the production value is superb; and my brilliant co-stars in the serial include Eijaz Khan, Rajeshwari Sachdev, Jai Kalra... There is no generation leap in the soap, unlike other typical serials. It was a combination of all these aspects that made me sign up for the project. I can easily identify with the emotions of the protagonist as I am also a mother,” she confesses.
As the serial rolls out five days a week, Bhagyashree has been busy shooting for it 25 days a month, from 8 am to 8 pm. “We have shot for about two dozen episodes so far and are looking at a run of at least nine months on air,” she says, as we sit down and chat over coffee in her lavish living room on the ground floor, dotted with plush sofas, custom-made tables and winking chandeliers.
Royal progression
The restrained-yet-luxurious palette of bronze and deep reds reflect her own personality of sheer elegance and charm. Bhagyashree comes from the royal Marathi family of Sangli in Maharashtra, and as a youngster, made her debut in the serial Kachchi Dhoop. Followed her rather shy reprisal of filmstar Salman Khan’s on-screen sweetheart in the trailblazer Maine Pyar Kiya from the house of Rajshri films, her marriage and subsequent growth into a loving wife, daughter-in-law, mother, and now, an actress again through Laut Aao Trisha.
She is comfortable to move ahead at her own pace. “I choose my assignments rather carefully as I need to enjoy what I do. Fortunately, I do not have to earn money to support my family, so I can afford to choose my projects as and when I want. I am neither fame-conscious nor greatly ambitious. For me, the journey is more important than the destination,” sums up Bhagyashree, dissolving into her signature smile.
“I love coming home to my family and enjoying the fruits of their labour. Himalay and I have done up our home without taking the help of any interior designer.
It has been a slow, steady and joyful process. My in-laws have been equally supportive and are now moving in with us. My parents stay close by. That is a boon. God has been very kind, and I couldn’t have asked for more,” she says, signing off.
Catch Laut Aao Trisha at 10 pm, from Monday to Friday, on Life OK.