I had an informal audition, and before I knew it, I was SHE, says OTT star Aaditi Pohankar

She is no conventional actor, and her feisty and gutsy character portrayals on-screen sure give ample evidence of it. Aaditi Pohankar was happy climbing the ladder of success as a model. However, life had other plans when she bagged the role as the lead in the critically acclaimed SHE. In conversation with the newest OTT star in the block, where she reveals the relatable traits she finds in her onscreen character Bhumika, and how she faced the challenges of playing two diametrically opposite characters of an undercover cop and a call-girl, with honesty and dedication. The next season of SHE is only some days away from being telecast and Aaditi shares her excitement about working in the series with Filmfare.

The Privilege Of Working On A Project That Has Been Written By Imtiaz Ali Must Be Exhilarating.

I was just telling somebody right now, why isn’t Imtiaz sir doing more thrillers? When he approached me for this, I was under the impression that it was a romantic film, I didn’t know it was going to be Bhumi romancing herself and her thoughts eventually. She will of course have attributes with other characters and her love life and all that but primarily you see Bhumika with herself. May it be romance or thriller she is sticking to her decisions on her own, she is falling in love with herself on her own and she has been directing herself all this while on her own. So a script like this is in itself a privilege to work on and a script written by Imitiaz Ali, what more could you ask for. People have recognized my work and you will not believe it, people from Spain and France and these kinds of places have been chatting with me for the last two years. Like ‘when is the next season coming out?’ I don't know if this happens with everybody but it happens to me so I am extremely excited.

Tell Us A Little About How She Came Your Way.

I wanted to work with Imtiaz for a while. I kept meeting him at intervals. Everybody said that he doesn’t work with new actors. I kept going around and persuading him and messaging him generally. And then I decided to make a moving portfolio because pictures are not my game. I want to show emotion. I sat down, made a storyboard, and Bosco Bhandarkar directed it and Sachin shot it. I had one emotion in mind which is love. Melancholy is what we were looking at. There are various attributes to melancholy, and I wanted to show the actors’ side with certain costumes looking like a model. There is one look where I looked both sincere and manipulative. I showed it to Imtiaz sir. He met me after watching it and narrated the script to me. He said ‘maybe right now you are a little young to do this part but why don’t you give it a read.’ I read it and had an informal audition but it was not more lines it was mostly emotions. And before I knew it, I was SHE.

You're A Female Constable And You Play The Role Of An Undercover Call Girl – Two Very Different Approaches. How Did You Prepare For It?

I went ahead with Bhumika as who she is and then everything else followed. Being undercover or being threatened by this guy, or then in the first season Sasya coming in like a love interest and her despising him, everything happened on set. I kept the base correct and after that whatever is going to happen for the character, I let it flow.

In Season 2 Your Character Seems To Have A Lot More Confidence. What Are The Highlights Of Your Character In Season 2 That You Feel The Audience Will Enjoy Watching?

She’s looking confident. But actually, she is not confident. When do you shout? When you are not confident when you are confident you speak slyly. So when she is shouting she is like- ‘I am supposed to do it!', and then she goes back into her cocoon. When you see one scene and the next, you see that she is immediately gone down. I love that slide she is going through. These emotions are something that we all go through in real life and that is why they will connect with everybody. Emotions change in a jiffy and that is what happens to Bhumika but at a very different level, a very high-risk level. Where if something goes amiss, either she’ll die or she will kill somebody. Yes there is confidence, but there is a duality to it; like she is dubious whether she is confident or not and whether she can show it.

Do You Relate To Any Of The Personality Traits Of Bhumika?

Yes, certainly. That is why I can play her. I wonder and my only question is how Bhumika thinks, “Mai yahape kya karri hai? Mai zinda rahegi ya nahi.” I think that “Humlog yaha pe kya kar rahe hai?” (as human beings.) It is sort of philosophical but I always keep thinking that as a human, especially when the pandemic happened, I was thinking that so many people lost their loved ones, what exactly are we doing, and what is the basis of our being? It is love. We are all here to operate with love, to move forward, and to take it easy. When this script came to me I realised that everything that I have learned about life, I can put to use here. A lot of people told me ‘why did you pick up something like that, it won’t work.’ But it did and people asked me how it worked so well.

What Are The Kind Of Challenges That You've Faced Considering The Character Arc Of Your Role From Season 1 To 2?

Bhumi is becoming a little confident and I am a little scared of that confidence because jab Bhumi confident banegi tab pata nahi kisko kya karegi. We are of course going to stay within the circumference of who Bhumi is but certainly going ahead of the old ideas she was walking with. She is certainly going to face a lot of challenges because of that.

OTT Has Been Quite Rewarding To You, What Are The Kinds Of Roles Or Genres You're Willing To Explore In The Future?

I have been saying it to a lot of people that I want to explore romance and comedy. I want to explore that side of myself. l would love to play the lighter side of life. And I would love to do something which is like a slice of life drama.

Aaditi Pohankar is all set to reprise her role as Bhumika in SHE Season 2. Considering how impressive she has been in Season 1, leaves little to imagination how she'll continue to attain greater heights with her performance.Aaditi has had a great run on OTT so far and continues to enthrall audiences with her effortless craft of acting. With a winning combo such as this - a promising actor in an Imtiaz Ali production only qualifies to deliver the best with a killer script, stunning cast and intriguing characters.