By Anil Merani: Adrija Roy is getting sentimental about her Star Plus show, Imlie, which is ending tonight. Ten months ago, she entered this Gul Khan production’s third season with Sai Ketan Rao.
“I will miss the entire unit, especially Sai since we would have many creative fights about approaching a scene. As a dedicated actor, I’ve watched every episode of Imlie, always striving to learn and improve. As the finale airs tonight, I’m filled with a mix of emotions. It’s a bittersweet moment, but I’m excited to see how our journey concludes.”
Adrija, who has acted in nine Bengali TV shows, regards Imlie as her breakthrough series in the Hindi television industry.
“I debuted with Durga and Durga, which shut shop in four months.
I was lucky not to have been made the scapegoat; my talent got noticed. It took me four more months before Imlie happened, but I decided to hit the road running, giving multiple auditions. I made the shortlist for another Star Plus show, but that did not happen.
“Although I entered a running show, the fact it was season 3 means the story was completely different. Season 1 (Sumbul Toqueer Khan- Fahmaan Khan) and Season three made waves. I got lots of love for my efforts. Imlie’s characterisation is quite similar to mine in real life. The only difference is that she fights back while I don’t.”
“If the show had lasted a couple more months, we would have completed a year. I thank Gul mam for having confidence in me”.
“Adrija says the initial two months at the Imlie set were quite tricky.” I found the Hindi dialect Imlie spoke challenging. I am a Bengali, so my mother tongue is not the nation’s lingua franca.”
“When the director gave me four pages of dialogues, I thought I could not do it. However, there was no other option. In hindsight, I realized that the pressure helped me up my game,” she added.
Looking ahead, Adrija might enter Kundali Bhagya post leap.”I have yet to be confirmed, but if I do, I will do my best, as always. Doing a long-running Balaji show will be yet another feather in my cap.”
When asked to compare Hindi and Bengali tube shows, she says that both have unique identities (many Bong shows are remade in Hindi, albeit with changes). “Mumbai’s bigger budgets allow for many more visual options (four cameras set up). Back home in Kolkata, we must make do with a limited vision of a single or double-camera setup. “
“I will not do Bengali TV shows for now, but I might be open to more Bengali films and series (she has done them as well ) with much creative depth. Many Bengali actors are satisfied with home content, given its high quality.”