Dancing through life...

TELLY STAR

She holds the Guinness record for performing 93 spins in a minute in kathak. She recently wrapped up a performance at the National Centre for Performing Arts in Mumbai to a roaring ovation. Her telly show, Ek Shringaar -Swabhimaan, a Barjatya production, concluded sometime back on high TRPs. And she barely had time to celebrate Diwali, and the success of her last movie, Judwaa 2, before she began the next schedule of Anubhav Sinha’s Mulk. The soft-spoken actor Prachee Shah Paandya is busier than the proverbial bee and loving her state of busy-ness as it validates her.

“It was a beautiful experience working with film-maker David Dhawan in Judwaa 2. This is the third time I have worked with Varun (Dhawan). We shot together earlier in Student of the Year and ABCD 2. He is certainly a hardworking and gifted actor,” she says. Prachee played his genial mommykins in the movie that has clambered into the multi-crore club with its box office collections. Her recent short film on the telly, Aaj Likhenge Kal, got over 1.2 million views on YouTube. Prachee plays a pallu-clad bahu who goes on to fulfil her ambition of becoming a doctor. The plot circled the dilemma of her oath-taking ceremony coinciding with her daughter’s wedding, and how her family rallies around her to encourage her to follow her dream. “The response to this was simply overwhelming,” says Prachee. “I have worked in so many films, but the kind of reach television has is unparalleled. Combined with social media presence, this has redefined the dynamics as an actor.”

Prachee considers herself blessed to be able to space out projects. She has been part of an impressive line-up of projects including the iconic telly serial Kyunki Saas Bhi Kabhi Bahu Thi, Kesar, Piya Ka Ghar, Manzil Apni Apni and films such as Haunted- 3D, Akaash Vani and more.

Prachee juggles her pursuits with remarkable elan while dealing with the guilt pangs that every working mother can identify with. She bounced back into shape once her little one arrived to resume her passion for acting and kathak. “My nine-year-old is currently vacationing with my brother’s family in Abu Dhabi with her grandparents. While she is away, I am busy winding up many pending jobs in and around my house (including grocery lists!), because when she comes back, I leave the following day for a 15-day shoot schedule. It is going to be challenging for both of us as her exams start soon, but she is used to it. I have my own support system, as my parents stay close to my house and are always around for her,” she shares.

Of course, she believes in going along with the flow. Just back from inaugurating the first day of the festival of music and dance, ‘Chakradhaar’, in Chattisgarh, she fuels her love for kathak with a practice on every Sunday to perfect her form. “I find it therapeutic. I also find listening to music very soothing. Classic, old, filmi songs, especially Lataji’s renditions, are my favourites. So, whenever I am walking or jogging, I plug in immediately,” she says.

Talking about life lessons, she says, “My biggest learning till date has been that your hard work never goes waste. You must be honest about your work, enjoy your pursuits passionately, and the rewards will follow. If you want to spread light in life, you must first glow yourself.”

“Also, I do not plot and plan. I believe in destiny, and things have simply worked out on their own for me,” says Prachee. Next on her bucket list is a vacation with her family to Switzerland.

Meanwhile, we await her next film move on the silver screen in Mulk that brings her together with a melee of great actors in Rishi Kapoor, Taapsee Pannu, Ashutosh Rana and Neena Gupta. “It is a delight being a part of this movie: a family drama that centres around a circumstantial crisis, and how the family deals with it.”