Sukirti Kandpal's Claim To Fame !!!

“WHEN I WAS LEAVING THE SHOW THERE WAS A RIOT ON THE INTERNET AND ALL OVER”

Sukirti Kandpal could never tell her parents that she harbored dreams of being an actress. So, she packed her bags, convinced her parents that it was academics in Tinseltown that was beckoning her. But there were other things on the mind of this young girl. Five years on, she still has the spunk and charisma that brought her here. She got her first break while she was still in her final year of graduation and landed a plum role in a youth based show called Jersey No.10.

From then on offers started pouring in. “I thought I could be a model but then I was short, so acting called. At the age of 14, I couldn’t tell my folks that I wanted to be an actress or they would have laughed it off! We didn’t watch Hindi films in school; rather English movies were imbibed in us. After moving to Mumbai I have become a movie buff and I don’t miss a single film,” says Sukirti, with a smile that lights up her face.

It was a chance encounter with the creative head of Cinevistaas, who made the show that nurtured her dreams. “I was sitting at Café Leopold at midnight doing nothing. The creative head of Cinevistaas saw me and asked me to audition. I was in a confused state of mind and my friends encouraged me to go ahead with the offer. I was 19 then and was sceptical to enter the industry on my own. Today, I can’t imagine myself doing anything else but acting.”

But her biggest break came when she was approached to replace the lead character in Star One’s popular show, Dill Mill Gayye (DMG). “On my last day of shoot for Jersey No.10, I was offered to play Riddhima’s role. Initially I was shocked and baffled but I was elated at the same time. I had never got the time to watch DMG to understand the popularity of the show.

It was like doing something completely new for me. I was sure if I could do something convincingly, I would sail. I respect Shilpa Anand for whatever work she has done but I have my own set of fans. When I was leaving the show there was a riot on the internet and all over! I worked on my character and people appreciated the show,” says the chirpy girl.

With no acting background or training, Sukriti blended into the character and made it her own. “My homework was on the set, I took the character from scratch and learnt about Riddhima on the first day of the shoot when I wore a salwar kameez and got ready to transform,” she says.

The 21-year-old, however, loves the simple life - shopping and going on long drives. She also hopes to start working for orphanages in her free time. This is not all; Sukirti is also an animal lover and mothers her pet dog Lama to no end.

Moving on to her show, we discuss her chemistry with co-star Karan Singh Grover, and she praises him generously, but reveals that she has a special someone tucked away. She doesn’t shy away from talking about her handsome co-actor though, “Karan helped me from the beginning and he is a very nice person. He has always been good to me and when I was ill, he called for medicines. There was no time when I was paired up with him. There was no time for anything else,” she says.

Blushing, she hints that her real life beau is someone she cherishes. In spite of coaxing her to spill the beans on her guy, she refused shyly. “I have known someone who is ten times more handsome, ten times more deserving and ten times better in every aspect than any actor. God has to bless me for the fact that I have met a really genuine person in my life. He has stood by me through thick and thin. I will never choose an actor for my personal life. So I have known much better people and I know how to judge people.” However life hasn’t been all fun and games for this young actor.

She has tears in her eyes when she talks of the time, three years back, when everything fell apart for her family, when her sister was admitted to the hospital with head injuries. “She fell from the train and injured her head and she was in the ICU for 17 days. It was tough, for six months she did nothing. She had tubes all over her body. I was just 19 then and didn’t know to react to all of this. God gave me the strength to get my sister back on her feet. She is not in the best of health but she is fine,” smiles Sukirti.

Coming back to the show that made her popular, Sukirti recollects that there was some controversy, when she quit. “I don’t know how well the show is doing. I got to know it has a TRP of 4.5 and the pressure was on me to get the TRPs higher. Only one person cannot keep the show going. There were certain things that I couldn’t understand from the show.

I also have a certain kind of distance that I maintain from people which is often misunderstood as arrogance. I like to have a professional distance from everyone. Every actor puts in his best into a project and when one doesn’t get appreciated for the efforts, it feels bad. I don’t regret doing what I did and I was happy being a part of the show, and I met some genuine people in the team as well. I have respect for the team and prefer to keep shut about the rest of the issues,” she says.

For now she is busy working on Agle Janam Mohe Bitiya Hi Kijo as the parallel lead. And needless to say, Sukirti is enjoying herself to the hilt with her co-actors Rupa Ganguli and Sushmita Mukherjee. “I am in a happy state of mind with this show and some ad films. I can take care of my personal life as well.

I do things that make me content. Agle Janam… is an interesting concept and I wanted to be myself on the screen with my original curly hair intact. Also, the basic character is very light-hearted and playful. Working incessantly for my pervious shows and looking after my sister took a toll on me and matured me beyond my age.” She talks about her experience working on the show, “I get along famously with my unit, and we meet each other even after work. It’s work and pleasure on the set.”

After playing the lead in Dill Mill Gayye, the actress readily agreed to do a parallel role without blinking an eyelid. “We have big Bollywood stars doing three scenes and making an impact. I can watch a comedy movie only for Paresh Rawal despite there being a huge starcast. The importance and impact of the role has to be gauged by an actor before taking it on. In Jersey No 10, I played a young girl who wore mini-skirts and corsets and walked around all the time. I want to experiment with all kinds of roles without any biases or inhibitions,” she says.

From television shows we move on to films, the next best option and aspiration for actors. Not many know that the actress had auditioned for Anil Kapoor’s next production Ayesha. “I do get calls to audition very often. I was short listed but Ayesha didn’t work out for me. But I am very happy that I was called for the audition,” she says, adding that she would love to do a comedy and a dance reality show.

No interview with a TV actor is complete without asking them about their shift to the big screen. When asked about her plans for Bollywood, Sukriti reveals that she is open to more challenges. “I want to explore the other mediums as well. Movies give you a high and all of us want to do good projects. I am not crazy or dying to get into movies. TV gives us the power to reach out to enough people and we get enough work satisfaction or money. And I am not ready to do anything and everything for movies. If a fine project comes along, I will take it,” she says with a twinkle in her eye.

She wants to see herself as a polished and fine actress of the 70 mm screen. “I want to be perfect and not get into films just for the heck of it. I also want a smooth transition from TV to films that makes me blissful,” she adds. Quite a transition it has been for Sukirti. From a 16-year-old dreamy-eyed girl to a passionate actor, she has indeed come a long way.