Asha Negi began her acting career with Pavitra Rishta and since then she has come a long way. The actress will next be seen in the third season of Abhay which also stars Kunal Kemmu, Divya Agarwal and Tanuj Virwani among others. In a recent interview with News18.com, Asha talked about her journey from Pavitra Rishta to date and agreed that it was no less than a roller coaster ride.
Asha Negi, who hails from Dehradun, recalled how getting Pavitra Rishta was not difficult for her. She mentioned that even after Pavitra Rishta, she worked in several reality shows including Indian Idol, Fear Factor and Nach Baliye, but it was after this that she had to struggle to get work. Asha revealed that two of her shows were shut in just a month and then she had no work for at least two years. The actress further mentioned that she decided to use this period to improve her acting skills.
“I always remind myself of the journey, but it has definitely been a roller coaster ride. It was not easy. In fact, when I had come to Bombay, it was not that difficult initially to get work, I got work somehow without any experience but doing that work, the experience of it, learning acting through that experience was a bit of a struggle and it was a very difficult time. Post Pavitra Rishta and a couple of reality show that I did, there was a time when I had no work. For two to two and a half years I did not work because the two television shows I did before got shut in a month. I was very low on confidence and then I thought that I have to be patient. This was after I did Pavitra Rishta, Nach Baliye, Fear Factor, and hosted Indian Idol. Following these projects, I had done two television shows and both of them got shut in a month. The confidence went for a toss,” Asha Negi told News18.com.
The actress further revealed she thought that it was time for her to pack her bags and go back to Dehradun. “Laga yeh tha mujhe ke abhi mera bhi time ho gaya hai, abhi bag pack karke wapis chalo Dehradun (I thought it was time for me to pack my bags and go back to Dehradun). But that’s when I realised my love for this craft, acting. I started watching a lot of shows and films from the perspective of acting and I did a couple of acting workshops also. Usse pehle (before that) when I had come to Bombay from Dehradun, I wanted to be a heroine. I wanted to be famous. Jo ki ho gaya tha inn 2-3 saal mein with Pavitra Rishta and these reality shows. But I think my love for acting happened during that downfall. That’s when I realised how much I love acting and how much I want to act. Sometimes they say, failures teach you more than success can. That’s what happened to me,” she shared.
“Wo thoda prep time ho gaya tha mere liye (It was no less than preparation time for me). I also grew as a person, as an actor. After that, I have been doing good shows,” Asha added.
Asha Negi also talked about the demotivation she had to face when she decided to become an actress. She revealed how people in Dehradun wanted her to do a job, get married, and have kids. The actress also recalled how somebody in Mumbai once told her that she looks ‘too pahadi to become an actress’.
“Yeah, it happened. People used to demotivate me a lot. They used to think, especially in Dehradun, not really in Bombay. In Bombay, hardly but jiss shehr se tum hote ho na vahan ke log tumhe zyada demotivate karte hai (The city you belong to, that’s where people demotivate you a lot). People used to do that to me a lot. Yehi lagta tha unko ke kya hoga (They used to think what will happen), a girl from Dehradun will go to Bombay and become an actress, aisa toh nahi ho sakta (This isn’t possible). Sometimes, they would say this out of concern also. They would be scared and want you to do a 9-5 job, get married, and have kids. There was one time when somebody told me, ‘you look too pahadi to become an actress, you have these oriental features’. This was in Mumbai. Somebody told me this,” Abhay actress shared.
When asked if she left television for OTT, the actress said, “People want to do different characters, keep shuffling their projects. That is of course one big reason. But I also feel, now that I have started doing web, you start a show, you are done in a month or so and then you move on to another project. That’s one thing I really like and enjoyed doing.”
“It is less hectic, you get to do a lot of characters. You do a character for a month or two, you are done. You move on to another, nice and fresh. It does not become monotonous also,” she added.
