Shraddha Arya has been living her character of Preetha for three years now in Kundali Bhagya. The show has been doing so well and is all set to resume airing fresh episodes from today. While that is good news, the show’s shooting has been temporarily shut after Parth Samthaan was found to be COVID 19 positive. Kundali Bhagya, along with Kumkum Bhagya and Pavitra Bhagya are shot in Killick Nixon in close proximity and hence the area has been closed off. In an exclusive chat, Shraddha shared that they will shoot soon but will shift back to their usual set in SJ Studios. She also shared her worry about whether the shows will be able to bring back the audience to television. Over to her:
Shows resume fresh episodes from today. Excited?
All the shows were not airing for three to four months, and now, it is kind of a new beginning. I don’t know how much of our audience is there and come back to the show. Lots of people have moved away from television, the times are such that it is very challenging to come back with the show and do as good as we were doing earlier.
Are you feeling the jitters?
I am. There is a slight feeling because we brought our show up with a lot of effort. It struck the chord right. Now, we will have to do all that hard work, effort again. But that’s the life of an artist. You have to pull yourself up again. I accept it. It is my job.
How has the new normal been? Were you apprehensive about it?
Yes. We are exposed to a certain amount of danger. Agreed to that but I think since our PM has only said that we have to accept this as our new normal, what we can do best is that assure that we are doing as much as we can to protect ourselves. I carry my mask, my sanitizer, I make sure that everyone around me has always done the test and everything. We make sure collectively that everyone is adhering to safety measures. Of course, the production house makes sure of that. They do everything to make us feel safe on sets. There are proper sanitiser machines in place; there is a booth that is set outside the set and no one is allowed inside or outside without getting themselves checked. Everyone is in their mask, we have been working with a very small unit. But that is what I want to be do, I want to work, get up on time, do something and come back home tired.
Now we are doing the 7 AM shift so that we can follow the 9 PM curfew so it is pretty nice. There is no traffic since most of the people are working from home.
But does this entire situation scare you, especially with the spike in cases?
The scenario is such that people who are home are thinking going out is more fun. Considering the COVID-19 spread, people who are outside feel exposed and want to be home. So, it is a kind of struggle on both sides of thoughts in the head. Our priority right now is to accept that this is how it will be and do as much as you can to ensure safety and understand that being calm is important. Whether you are home or outside, look after yourself. You yourself are the priority.
When do you resume shoot after this temporary shut down following guidelines?
I think we will resume but we won’t be shooting at Killick Nixon Studios because that is in the containment zone. But our regular shoots anyway happen at SJ Studios, it happened so that we were shooting Killick Nixon but usually we shoot at SJ. I think we will resume shoot there. The precautions that the team is taking will be followed more carefully I think. We will resume shoot sooner than we think. I will also be taking a test as a precaution.
