Interview: ‘Second lockdown was imposed and my father had settled down’, Patralekha told the story of the beginning of ‘R Ya Paar’

Like everyone else, Patralekha has found such a ‘prince’ in life, with whom she is ‘reigning’. They watch movies together and give gifts to each other. These days Patralekha is in discussion about her series ‘R Ya Paar’. Like this, in life too, she has lived the moment of ‘R Ya Paar’, when she had to become an actress. Apart from ‘City Lights’ and ‘Bose-Dead and Alive’, fans are eager to see Patralekhaa and Rajkumar together but both are still waiting for a good script and director. Patralekha tells that I and Raj want that when we work it should be good.

Had to go several kilometers to washroom
You can call my role of Sanghamitra in ‘R Ya Paar’ challenging but not the most challenging. I chose this character deliberately so there is no such thing as being difficult. I knew what was going to happen on the sets. However, shooting was physically challenging as it was shot in jungles. Had to walk one to one and a half kilometer there. If you want to go to the washroom, then walk one and a half km and go up. Then take the car. One km from there. Go ahead, then you used to get vanity. It was all a bit rough but we had a lot of fun too. I have not done this type of character before. Till now the most challenging character of my life I have played in Luv Ranjan’s project ‘Gulkanda Tales’.

There’s always a challenge in the creative field
I do not believe that performance is better because of fear. Sometimes the opposite happens as well. When you do something familiar, there is no scope for fear, but in the creative field there is always a new challenge. The problem arises only when before starting a film or series, you do not know how to do the character, what it is, in which direction it will go, who are the people on the set, new unit, new co-actors, new There is a story. Because of this it just takes a few days to settle. Take the case of ‘R Ya Paar’. I had a shoot with Sumit Vyas on the first day. There was a fear in my mind whether I would be able to act or not. I went and shot scenes. Sumitji was seeing that I am getting stuck. He didn’t say anything, just talked to me, so that my fear would go away. In fact, as good a person as Sumit Vyas is, he is also a good co-actor.

The call for audition came when father passed away.
The call to audition for ‘R Ya Paar’ came when I was going through the toughest phase of my life. At that time the second lockdown was imposed and my father had passed away. I was in Shillong then. During the same time the casting team got a call for audition. I told them my problem and refused. After a month he got a call again. Even at that time the lockdown was going on. He told that the director wants you to audition once. I felt that someone wants me to audition, so it is a big deal for me as an actor. I auditioned and forgot. A week later, I got a call that the director found your audition very good. At that time the lockdown was also opening, so I said yes. In fact, Siddharth Sengupta, the creative of this show, had seen his series ‘Undekhi’ during the first lockdown. I found it very strange. I wanted to work with him since then. After that he made ‘Yeh Kali-Kali Aankhen’. You can say that the character of Sanghamitra was written in my destiny.

As a wife it is his duty to watch my movies
Raj (Rajkummar Rao) is my husband, so it is his duty to see my work. He has also seen ‘Aar Ya Paar’. Well, Raj watches a lot of content. Then whether it is a film or series in any language. I support him a lot in this. If both of us are in Mumbai, we watch content together. Recently we were on holiday in London. There, Raj used to come back to the hotel every evening and put ‘R or Paar’. Also, watched a few more movies. Even before going to London, we had made up our mind to watch ‘Avatar 2’ there because the theaters there are more advanced. We also saw an international movie together, which was not supposed to release in India. We both love watching movies. This is our common hobby.

I take advice from Raj about my work
If I am ever confused as to what to do and what not to do, I consult Raj. No harm in that because Raj does such a great job. His sense about the script is very good. On the other hand, talking about Raj, he is very clear about his work. He never wavers as to whether this work should be done or not. He is very clear about this.

Anyone would have spoken on social media
Social media is becoming very complex day by day. It used to be fun 5-6 years ago. People used to watch your posts or photos with great interest. I have been active on social media since the time of Orkut (social media platform, which is now closed), when it started and when it was ending. Through social media, you can meet those friends with whom you had lost your company long ago. In the beginning it was very connecting but as Facebook, Twitter, Instagram came and upgraded, the whole world came in just one place. Slowly the poison also started dissolving. Anyone raises his mouth and says anything. Such acts are not right for anyone’s mental health. I think a good thing has gone the wrong way.

takes gifts for everyone except himself
I am fond of eating golgappas and how good the chaat of Lucknow is. Last year Raj was shooting for Bheed in Lucknow and I was doing Luv Ranjan Sir’s project in Chandigarh. At that time I had come to Lucknow, then Anubhav Sinha (Director) Sir had fed me a lot of tasty food there. They fed chaat, kebabs, biryani. It never happens that Raj goes to Lucknow and does not bring anything for me. I find them very comfortable and also very beautiful. Raj often eats or watches movies after shooting. He likes to give gifts but does not buy anything for himself. I buy gifts for them. I am not bragging. If you don’t believe then ask Raj that who buys gifts for him, he will take my name only.