Jyothi Venkatesh
It was a death in the family which actually drove Manju Sharma from almost walking away from her acting career. The actor, who is currently seen in the show Ek Bhram - Sarvagun Sampanna, says that it was constant calls from her producer, which got her back. “I had left acting and had gone back to my hometown a few years back. After my younger sister’s death, my mom, brother and I went to an ashram. We stayed there for 2 months. I was like let’s forget about my career, let’s just sit and eat and enjoy life. But, when I was there I got a call from a production house twice and I said no. After that, I went back with my mom to Saharanpur and again I started getting a call from the production house asking where I was. So then I came here to Mumbai and the next day itself at 10.30 pm, I got a call from the same production house saying that they wanted me to play a character. They told me that the shoot was on the next day. I said I was not ready and asked about the look test or audition. They said that was not needed and just wanted to know if I was available to do this project. They spoke very sweetly with me and I was convinced. We spoke till around 12 am talking about the character and the script and the next day I went on shoot directly. This is how I came on board with Ek Bhram - Sarvagun Sampanna.”
The actor, who has been part of F.I.R, Chidiya Ghar, The Kapil Sharma Show, Bhabhiji Ghar Par Hain, says that she loves the title of her current show. “I felt really happy when I heard the title because as the title says Bhram which means Illusion. I feel the world is definitely living in an illusion. To be honest there is no one who is Sarvagun Sampanna. We all are incomplete and to complete an incomplete person we need another incomplete person so that the person is complete. We never like the reality, we always love illusion in real life as well,” she says. Talking about her character, she adds, “It’s not a negative character, it is a mixture of everything. She is not exactly doing comedy but whatever she does it looks funny. She has her friends with whom she goes to kitty parties and all!”
Ask her if she relates to her character, and she says, “I am a very boring person in real life. If you meet Manju Sharma, you will be like she is very boring. I don't like doing makeup, getting ready, going to parties and all. I remember once when I was working for FIR, Amir Ali came to me when I was without makeup.” The actor says that thrillers always do well. “People love thriller and crime shows. My sister used to work in Times of India and she used to tell me that they have the maximum number of readers for crime stories. People want to know what’s happening. So Ek Bhram Sarvagun Sampanna is a super hit show and the reason is that people have seen a lot of saas-bahu shows and now they want something different and our show gives that to the audience. Our show is not only seen by women, but the whole family,” she says.
Manju loves working with lead cast Shrenu Parikh and Zain Imam. “I cannot explain in words how is it working with them. I had it in my mind that since I have worked in a different channel, they might not be knowing me so I was sitting alone. But Zain Imam welcomed me so nicely. He called me and shared his food which was homemade. He sat beside me and we ate food together. It was my first day on set and I could not believe that this really happened because I had heard that these stars have a very weird attitude. But the way he welcomed me for a second I thought maybe he might be thinking I am someone else, but then it was nothing like that, he was really sweet to me. I always call actors by their character name but only Zain Imam is Zain Imam for me. Even Shrenu, she comes and hugs me every time which really makes me feel good. So just because of them, I could fit in here. When I have an off I miss them and its vice versa,” she says.
Working with producer Dipti Kalwani is a treat too, says Manju. “Dipti ma'am is a very nice person. I have an interesting incident which happened to her. It was my first day and I had to share my room with another actress.I was very excited to see who it will be and I was waiting. Suddenly a very pretty girl came inside so I went to her and I was like, ‘Hi, we are sharing this room, it would be fun.’ Then she left the room. So then I asked everyone who she was. They told me that she is the producer. I was like what did I just do! After some time, she came back to check my look and she was so humble to me that I was really shocked because already I had messed up. She always is so good with us, motivates us and even comes at us by herself and talk. She is a very nice person and I am very happy to be a part of this show,” she signs off.
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Tags: Bollywood, Bollywood News, Bollywood Updates, Television, Telly News, Ek Bhram - Sarvagun Sampanna, Manju Sharma