Shivani Bhakoo Ludhiana, June 14

For anybody who is familiar with her character of Prerna in Star soap “Kasauti Zindagi Ke”, it will be difficult to believe that Shweta Tiwari is a girl next door — just out of college, witty and bubbly. TV artiste Shweta Tiwari Her role in the soap opera marks her as a mature and accomplished woman, a mother and a mother-in-law. And yet in real life she remains to be a slim girl, barely out of her teens. And Shweta says the moment she is off shooting, she gets into her real “Shweta” self. Those familiar with the serial will recall her as a patronising mother- in-law in her late 40s or early 50s, almost double her real age. How does she reconcile the two characters — the real life character and that on the television? She explains: “My character in ‘Kasauti…’ has evolved over a period of time…. You will recall that I made my first appearance as a teenager and then grew up with the serial itself and now I feel perfectly comfortable with that role, although it is almost double my age.” She says even in real life one has to perform so many roles together. “The best thing is to be sincere to your role and that is what I am trying to do with ‘Kasauti…’,” she adds. Shweta says she has been shooting for about 16 hours a day as she plays the lead role in the serial. She has not been able to take up any other assignment. Shweta was in the city to perform on stage for Navin Kumar and Prerna Aggarwal’s play “Sharaarat”. She says she is in love with theatre as it gives an on-the-spot live experience. “It is so lively as you perform face to face with so many people who may or may not like you,” she says. The television actress remains homely at the same time. She quips: “I ensure that I spend good time with my family, particularly my five-year-old daughter Palak.” Life in itself is so exciting offering lot of varied experience, she says. And she sums up: “In fact it is life that teaches you how to perform different roles in their true spirit.” http://www.tribuneindia.com/2006/20060615/ldh1.htm

Shweta Tiwari, aka Prerna of Kasauti Zindagi Kay, lets her hair down as Kavita in her first Hindi play, Sharaarat. In be tween prancing around and doing comedy, she talks about her off-screen persona, her catty remarks against her co-stars Cezanne Khan (Anurag/Kasauti Zindagi Kay) and Ronit Roy (Mr Bajaj/Kasauti…) and about life in general.

In a tight, black T-shirt and jeans teamed with a maroon cardigan, Shweta looks feminine and gives no-nonsense answers to controversial questions: does she stand by the comment she made on Kandy Floss, the gossip show, that “Sankraman studios mein bahut saare kutte hain” when asked, “What are your comments on Cezanne?”

“You know,” says Shweta, “when they first asked me, I said, ‘Cezanne who?’ But they were not ready to buy that. They switched off the camera and for half an hour they kept asking me to make some comment. So, I said, ‘Fine, switch on your camera and I will tell you what you want.’ The actress describes herself as “a very straightforward person. If I don’t like somebody, I tell them to just back off. I can’t back bite and I don’t gossip.”

What about the recent report of her showdown with Ronit Roy, whom she reportedly punched in the stomach because he insisted on playing Holi with her? “I had about five scenes to shoot as I had to leave for Sri Lanka the next morning. Ronit wanted to play Holi with everybody. I told him, ‘Just a little gulal on my face’, but he insisted on smearing me with a lot of colours, which I had to wash off with great difficulty.

“Now, when somebody forcibly plays Holi with you, what do you do? I just pushed him away, but certainly didn’t punch him. Can anybody really punch somebody just like that? Those who reported that bit of news chose to write what suited them.

“In this industry and on every TV set, you have these so-called common friends and ’sources’ who want to please everybody. They would say something about me and something about him and things would get blown out of proportion. In this industry, you know how men greet women — they touch you, hug you and insist on kissing you. I don’t like it and I say so, but there are some who won’t listen and that’s when I lose it. They call it attitude and I’m fine by it.”

Does she have friends in the industry? “Except Ronit and Cezanne, everybody is a friend,” she guffaws. Shweta, who has a daughter from her love marriage, says about her husband, “He knows me inside out. We are constantly in touch with each other and he knows everything I do or say. So it doesn’t matter what the others think of me. My daughter, Palak, is my world. I’d rather go home and spend time with her than party. I live my life the way I want to. Take it or leave it.”

On her play Shweta plays Kavita, a young woman forced to share a hotel room with Kunal Mittal (Vinay Jain) in Sharaarat, opening this Sunday at Manik Sabagriha. Initially, they can’t stand each other, but then a relationship develops. “I liked the fact that I would do comedy for the first time,” says Shweta. “After living as Prerna for so long, it’s a pleasure to be Kavita. She dresses the way I do and she also loves to laugh. The difficult part is to make everybody laugh. Fine, I’m ready for it.”

Shweta Tiwari (Prerna of Kasautii Zindagii Kay) and Vinay Jain (Aryan of Jassi Jaissi Koi Nahin) will soon come together in a play, Shararat.

The first show will be staged in April. The play is co-produced by the husband-wife duo of Navin Kumar and Prairna Agarwal (of Pyar Hua Chori Chori fame). While Prairna has written the play, Navin will direct.

Room doom

Says Prairna, “The play has three characters — Kavita (Shweta), Kunal (Vinay) and a Sardar (Navin). It is a romantic comedy. Vinay and Shweta land up in the same hotel room, and each wants the other to leave.”

Explaining why she chose Shweta and Vinay, she said, “Shweta looks serious in the TV show, but I could sense that she is a very chulbuli ladki in real life. When I met her, I knew I had hit the nail on the head.

Vinay Jain

As for Vinay, I need a suave, billionaire look, which went with what I saw of him in Jassi Jaissi Koi Nahin. I knew he was different from the negative shades he portrays.”

Done theatre before

This is not the first time that Shweta will be doing stage; she earlier acted in Khubsoorat, Kiraydar and Gaz Foot Inch, in her pre-television days.

Talking to HiTLIST, Shweta says, “But of course, now it will be a different story. Shararat is a big challenge. I haven’t faced the audience eye-to-eye in seven years, but I am sure I’m going to enjoy it.”

Vinay too has done plays — a comedy, Two To Tango — but he says this one is different. “I was dying to do a comedy like Shararat, and you will realise what I mean once it starts to roll.”

Both actors have started rehearsing for the new assignment. “We are reading the script in detail till late almost everyday. It is really exhausting, but satisfying as well,” Vinay concludes. A studio’s been booked for rehearsals.