If Farhan Akhtar, Arjun Rampal, Shahana Goswami and Purab Kohli were noticed in “Rock On”, so was Prachi Desai despite her not-so-meaty role in the film. Prachi with her cherubic smile was first seen in the tele-serial on Zee TV, “Kasamh Se”. “Rock On” was her first silver screen appearance.
Recalls Prachi, on a visit to New Delhi to launch a product of water purifying machine Pure, “I was doing this reality show ‘Jhalak Dikhla Jaa’ when I got my first break, ‘Rock On’. It was a perfect timing for me and came as real surprise because nobody would really have thought of experimenting by bringing an unknown face into his film and projecting me in a different role. I just think that this whole experimenting thing worked for us best.” Excerpts from an interview:
You have worked with big banners like Balaji Telefilms and directors like Rohit Shetty. Do you think of any name now with whom you are more keen to work?
I would love to work with Farhan Akhtar again. I think we had a great time working for ‘Rock On’ and again for the ad for ‘Pure’, it was another wonderful opportunity. I would love to work with both Zoya and Farhan.
What is more interesting for you, acting in soap operas or in films?
Films are more interesting. Comparatively, it also gives you the opportunity of playing a different role in every film. So it gives you a chance to experiment, invent yourself, surprise the audience a little bit now and then and yes, the monotony of television is something that is not in films. So it gives films an edge over television.
Given an opportunity would you consider playing a character that Vidya Balan played in “The Dirty Picture”?
I would love to. I think every role that Vidya does is phenomenal. I think one feels it more e because of the way she does it. But not just me, today if you ask anyone, she will say she would love to do what Vidya does. I also feel that for everybody there is a right time to do everything and it is also true that sometimes a role clicks for a certain person but it doesn’t click for you. So it is important for everyone to crack what suits you the best. Kareena’s job in ‘Jab We Met’, Aishwarya’s character in ‘Devdas’ are our all time favourite. They have done extremely different characters and I am trying to look for one role that is very different and most connecting with the audience.
How was your experience working with Sanjay Dutt, superstar who is twice your age and experience?
I think he is a phenomenon on his own. He has this whole experience of doing so many films and all of these years spent in this industry. However, I was not nervous working with him because I have learned this one thing that you have a perception about people but when you work with them, they turn out to be extremely different. I think the most surprising thing about him is his humility despite the stardom. He gelled so well with everybody at the sets; the whole crew kept cheering for him.
We have seen As we can witness superstars like Amitabh Bachchan, Aamir Khan, Salman Khan and Shah Rukh Khan are hosting reality shows on television. How do you see this space? If given an so if given an opportunity, would you take up such a challenge? like to play the same role on small screen?
It would be fantastic. It is a great way to connect with the audience because not everyone always gets a chance to go to the theatres to catch up with a film but there are so many people who watch television regularly and it should be nice to do something different. Maybe, judging a show or hosting a personal show would be great for me.
