‘I try to keep all my characters peppy’

Actress Rishina Kandhari, who is known for some amazing shows and films like Isharon Isharon Me, Gehraiyan, Adaalat, Ek Villain, and Saheb Biwi Aur Gangster, out of the many, gets candid with The Pioneer about her new show Na Umar Ki Seema Ho, her character choosing project, her most favourite character, and much more.

K. Ramya Sree

Film and television actress Rishina Kandhari is back on TV with Na Umar Ki Seema Ho. The actress has been a part of super hit shows such as Isharon Isharon Me, Gehraiyan, Aye Mere Humsafar, Tenali Rama, Adaalat, Ye Un Dino Ki Baat Hai, Devon Ke Dev Mahadev and many more films such as Ek Villain, Saheb Biwi Aur Gangster and Lupt, has come up with a new show airing on Star Bharat and Disney+ Hotstar.

A free-spirited soul and a passionate traveller, Rishina spoke to us about her new show and said, “My new show is basically about how in modern days and even earlier you fall in love with people much older than you. And the story is also about both the protagonists being 20 years apart from their age. My character is Priya, right now she’s the antagonist, but later on, she’s become like the parallel lead to connect.”

Rishina is not just a free-spirited actress, but a free-spirited soul too. Asked what her character-choosing process is like, she informed us, “There are a lot of scripts that has come to me. I always see what is different from the previous one because usually what happens is once we start doing a particular kind of role, then we keep getting similar roles in the television. That is the main backdrop of being a television actor. What has happened is I have always picked up the characters, which have always been different from the earlier ones like in Diya Aur Baati Hum. I was playing the character of a cop, and then the teacher and all my characters have a very crucial part and they were like your mentally popular among the audience. Just three days back, I had gone to the airport to drop someone and a lady who came to my table said my punchline “Uff touchy touchy” to me. I try to keep all my characters very likely and peppy and I try to connect with the audience as much as I can.”

Speaking of characters and roles, we wanted to know Rishina’s favourite role to date and Rishina says it is undoubtedly Arpita Khanna from Diya Aur Bati Hum. “That was my favourite of all till now because I had given my sweat, my blood, my energy, everything for the show. I learnt proper action sequences. I have done all my stints on my own, right from hanging from the truck and running behind the goons and all fight sequences. I went through proper training of sword fighting and the stick fire and the karate and a little bit of the Bollywood party sequences.”

After reading all this, are you also wondering if she is a method actor or a conventional one? Then here you go: Rishina describes herself as a mix of both as she is someone who learns things from her characters, however, she is out of the character and she is herself, the moment the director says cut. She’s not someone who takes her characters home.

If you follow Rishina on social media, you will surely know how passionate she is about travelling. Sharing her travelling experiences with her, she informed us, “I love travelling. The moment I get three days off, I travel somewhere.”

Asked why is it very important for a person to be passionate about certain things.
She said, “To have a deviation from regular work, it is very important to have hobbies. It is very important to live your life to the fullest is all I say to everyone who ever meets me. Otherwise, life becomes very monotonous. I see people falling into depression, cribbing about the same thing. I feel people should start doing things in a different way. So last year in July I had gone to Ladakh. After I returned from there, I felt something was missing. I felt I haven’t learnt anything from that trip, so I went to Har Ki Dun, which is some 15-16,000 feet above sea level, and you have to walk non-stop for a row, 10-10 hours. I challenged myself. The most valuable lesson I learnt from that trip was life is very precious, and you cannot just waste it and you have to give it to the fullest, and the beautiful view comes to you when you are at the top. I have conquered my fears with that trip.”

Ending the interview by sharing a fun fact that none of her fans knows, Rishina said, “When people meet me, they feel I don’t eat at all because I am very slim. But the fact is that I eat a lot. I am that someone on sets who eats everyone’s lunch. I can eat anybody’s food on the set.”