'I will be shocked if Rangrasiya doesn't work out'

Television actress Sanaya Irani is back with a new show, Rangrasiya.

The new fiction serial on Colors channel is the love story of a village girl Paro (Sanaya) and an army official Rudra, played by Ashish Sharma.

The show has been shot extensively across arid and parched regions of Jaisalmer, Jodhpur and Bikaner.

It will replace popular reality show Bigg Boss - Saath 7, and will premiere on December 30.

Sanaya tells Rajul Hegde what to expect from the show.

What made you take up this show?

The creative team. Saurav Tewari is passionate as a writer and producer. I remember watching the first episode of Madhubala. It’s one of the best episodes I have ever seen on television.

When I met Saurav sir, I told him that the episode blew me away.

When you know that you have a creative team you can’t go wrong. I will be shocked if this doesn’t work out.

Now you will be competing with your good friend Drashti Dhami (who stars in Madhubala, another show on the same channel).

There can be no competition between Drashti and me. Why can't two people be friends and happy together?

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The character you are playing is different from what you have done in the past. So what were the challenges?

The story is completely different and so is my character Paro.

I don’t relate to the character at all and that is why I was more stressed out.

I did some kind of homework in my head which proved completely wrong when I went on the set.

But Siddharth Sen Gupta (the director) helped me to understand it better.

Love and hate was there in another show of mine, but this is something that I haven’t done before.

Outdoors is always difficult because you wake up at odd hours like four in the morning. I got burnt in the sun and lost a lot of weight. I have lost four kilos while shooting. I was made to run over and over again on the sand and that is not easy.

The last time I was stressed so much was about my character Kushi (in Iss Pyar Ko Kya Naam Doon). So I am hoping that this will also work.

Are you nervous about the show doing well?

I was scared during Chanchan because I wasn’t sure. Here I am very sure.

I am never afraid of acceptance. I have been accepted as an actor. All have hits and flops in their lives and that doesn’t take away the talent they have.

For instance, I feel that Ashish Sharma (her co-star) is an underrated actor. Hopefully, this show will do wonders for him.

In the promos, Rudra kills your husband, and in spite of that you fall in love with him. How can that happen?

I think nobody should make any kind of judgement till they have seen the show.

I cannot reveal much about the story but the story is the hero of the show, not the actors. It’s intense and different from other shows that you have on television.

What kind of rapport do you share with your co-star Ashish Sharma?

When I gave my look test with him I was just praying that they would keep him in the show.

He is a talented actor and I think when you have a good actor opposite you it changes the whole dynamics of the show.

I have learnt a lot from him actually.

When there are two people good at their work in a scene, it can’t go wrong.

Are you saying this because of your past experience? (She didn’t get along with Chanchan co-actor Farhan Khan, and the chemistry was missing.)

I am lucky to have good actors in most of my shows. In Chanchan, that guy (Farhan) was relatively new and so was Mohit Sehgal (Iss Pyar Ko).

That doesn’t change anything. But it’s a different feeling when you act with a good actor; it changes the dynamic of the scene.

Are you disappointed that Chanchan didn’t do well?

You learn a lot from every show, and I had my share of learning with Chanchan.

Mohit Sehgal (her boyfriend) and you are pitted against each other as both your serials, Rangrasiya and Qubool Hai air at the same time on different channels. Is there competition?

Of course, I’ll bring him down. I have already told Mohit that he shouldn’t dare to compete; I will win the contest hands down.

Jokes apart, I think TV has space for everyone and all good shows will get their due. I am sure both our shows will do well.

How do you manage to spend time with each other when you do daily soaps?

We hardly get any time and the time that we manage to have, we end up catching up with friends and family as we do not get time for them too.

Thankfully, Mohit makes a lot of effort to spend time with me. But I am so different, I am too lazy. So I guess we make up for it.

You were offered Nach Baliye but you didn’t do it. Why?

I didn’t take it up because I wanted to do Rangrasiya.

Fiction is always my priority because I love acting and I don’t do it for fame or money.