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The set of Ekta Kapoor's Kkavyanjali was decorated for a party when I arrived. It was celebration time for Kkavya, who had topped his Masters in Business Management.
Riva Bubbar (who plays Sonia) and Natassha (who plays Anjali) were shooting together, and I wanted to spend a day with them.
Riva, who is making a cameo appearance, plays a modern NRI girl who has just returned from London.
The world knows her as Sonia, Yug Mittal's (Hiten Tejwani, in a guest appearance) friend. Yug is engaged to Arpita.
"My character is not going to break their engagement," Riva clarifies quickly.
Between rehearsals and close-up shots, Riva talks about herself. "I have done several shows for Balaji Telefilms. This is quite different from my image in Kyunki... Saas Bhi Kabhi Bahu Thi..., where I'm a sari-clad bahu."
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She adds, "I am an in-house Balaji actor. I have a contract with them for Kyunki...; in this, I'm only playing a cameo."
The actress had recently finished work on the serial, Aayushman.
"I plan to take a break now because, while I was doing both Kyunki... and Aayushman, it had become very hectic," she says.
Surprisingly, she does not plan to do movies even though she has been getting offers.
Riva started her career as a model and did commercials for Cadburys, Ponds, Nihaar Sunsilk and Pantene. She has also done music videos for Asha Bhosle and Pankaj Udhas.
Her first serial, Kyun Hota Hai Pyar, happened thanks to Sony's CEO Tarun Katyal.
"I got my first serial because of my Cadbury ad with the O&M ad agency. Tarun was working in O&M then. Later, he joined Star Television and, when Kyun Hota Hai Pyar happened, he suggested my name."
After that, she signed Karma with Balaji Telefilms. But Karma took a long time in the making, and she signed on Kyunki....
Besides Kkavyanjali, she also did a cameo in Kahiin To Hoga.
Riva, who comes from a non-filmi background, adds, "I never planned my future. I never thought of becoming an actress but here I am. When we're children, we tend to want to become what our mothers are. Since my mother was an air-hostess, I wanted to become one too. Later, in college, I wanted to become a fashion designer. Now, my mom is an interior designer, so I was contemplating that as well. But, after modelling happened, I got into television, and that does not give you time to do anything else."
Natassha, who plays Anjali, started her career in the reverse. She started with films (Yeh Dil, Kucch Toh Hai) and then moved to television.
"When Balaji narrated the script of Kkavyanjali, I was really excited. It was a grand show and I had a lot of shades to perform. Mine was a purely positive character. Then, I had a double role in it, with negative shades. It's fun to do so much in one character," she says.
Natassha says she does not mind the hectic shooting schedules, as she's a workaholic. "We don't have a bank of episodes so we have to shoot for 16-20 hours a day, and 25-30 days a month. But I enjoy every bit of it," she says.
Like Riva, Natassha started her career as a model. She has featured in ads like Boroplus and Sunsilk.
Her first TV serial was Kabhi Souten Kabhie Saheli, after which she got film assignments, which includes South Indian films. She has two upcoming films -- Balaji's Koi Aap Sa and Khalid Mohamed's Silsiley.
"I never thought I would get into acting, as my family has no filmi connections. I thought I'd give it a try and gave an audition. When I first entered this industry, I just wanted to make money. Now, I really want to do something in the industry."