PAKKHI GUPTAA OF SPECIAL OPS CELEBRATES 20TH BIRTHDAY IN 2020

Jyothi Venkatesh

Majority of the viewers are unfamiliar with the name Pakkhi Guptaa. She is a relatively new entrant in the entertainment industry. However, ‘Farah’ the character she plays in the Hotstar web series Special Ops has left an indelible impression on viewers’ minds. Pakkhi has limited screen time and shares the screen with Divya Dutta in the series as her younger sister. She has an author-backed role with a well-etched character. Pakkhi has done full justice to the role and makes her presence felt. The actress was also a part of Netflix’s web series Selection Day.

In both the series, Pakkhi has got to work with acclaimed directors Neeraj Pandey and Udayan Prasad and actors like Kay Kay Menon, Divya Dutta, Vinay Pathak, Karan Tacker, Sana Khaan, Saiyami Kher, Vipul Gupta, Karanvir Malhotra, Rajesh Tailang, Mahesh Manjrekar, Ratna Pathak Shah, etc. Speaking on the same, she says “I am blessed to be fortunate enough to be a part of the ensemble star cast of both the series. I always knew that I had the ability to act. At the age of 5, I used to take my mom’s phone put it on the recording mode, and just sit in front of it and spout dialogues.  I was heavily influenced after watching Kareena Kapoor in the Bollywood movie ‘Mujhse Dosti Karoge’. At the age of 10, I acted in a children’s play titled ‘Idgah’. It was the first time I performed in front of hundreds of people and I knew that this is what I want to do for the rest of my life.”

Born on bought up in New Delhi, in 1998, Pakkhi turned 22 this 17th April 2020. She has done her schooling from Loreto Convent and college from Delhi University. On asking how did she secure the Selection Day role, she explains; “In 2017, when I was in the middle of giving my pre-boards, I received a phone call from the Handprint studio. They informed me that they had emailed me a script for a Netflix Originals web series Selection Day and enquired me if I was interested in auditioning for it the next day. I remember I had my psychology pre-board the next day but decided to go for it. I was supposed to prepare for a monologue from episode three. I finished my exam and turned up at the audition in time. I will never forget the joy and exhilaration when I received the email confirmation that I had been shortlisted for Sophia’s role.”On asking how is she celebrating her birthday in quarantine, Pakkhi says “I think this pandemic is really exposing that everything we thought was important. I am celebrating the birthday with my parents with a home-baked cake and connecting with friends and family over the call. I also plan to watch all the web-series and movies I missed to make the best of this time.”