Anurita Jha on her role in ‘Aashram 3’: Kavita speaks more with silence

New Delhi : Actress Anurita Jha, who is known for her works such as ‘Gangs of Wasseypur’ and comedy web series ‘PariWar’, opens up on playing Kavita in the third season of Prakash Jha’s web series ‘Aashram’. She says: “There are more layers to my character Kavita’s graph in the third season. There is hope for her, a possibility of love appearing and changing things. Right now, I can only tell this much. Kavita is more fearless and involved in the revolt against Baba, but not out in the open.”

She adds: “For someone like Kavita, who has only seen negativity around her, and for her to then find someone who gives her hope, whom she can trust had mixed emotions of fear and desire at the same time. I try to bring myself to feel what the character goes through in the most honest way and then flow with it.” On the challenges she faced while playing Kavita, she shares: “Kavita is not a dialogue-heavy role. She speaks more with silences. She has no one whom she can share her plight with.

To portray such a character, I had to work hard on creating a world where all that had happened in her life like being a widow and then being left by her family at the disposal of a Baba in an ashram and later the humiliation that she goes through over there. When she tries to run away she is forced to come back.” The actress continues: “To portray all her emotions in every scene silently, I had to live it, live the world as per Kavita’s life. Else camera is very smart, it catches a fake expression.

While I was shooting I felt so many women in our society have to face it and they have no other choice than accepting it as their fate that made me sad.” Anurita is playing an important role in R. Madhavan’s much awaited film ‘Rocketry’ that recently went to Cannes. She also plays a significant role in Imtiaz Ali’s ‘Thai Massage’ and will be seen in Season 2 of web series ‘Asur’. She has also grabbed the lead role in an upcoming series called ‘AK-47’.

While talking about how her role in ‘Aashram’ is different from her other work, she asserts: “It’s quite different and difficult. It needed me to let go of my ego and vanity as in the first and second season, Kavita is constantly humiliated, tortured and made to feel alone and rejected by her own family. That’s a very dark space to experience and as an actor I had to take that path to reach it with all my honesty. Else it would have looked fake. These scenes have been exhausting.”

She concludes by summarising her journey in the entertainment industry: “My journey has been full of ups and downs but on the whole it’s a continuous work in progress. There is always so much to learn with every experience. I don’t think anyone gets rejected the way we actors do. Yet to stay focused and positive are the biggest challenges. To constantly make yourself visible and work on your craft is of utmost importance.”

“One has to constantly fight these negative external influences that are being thrown at you from random people. I have now learned to be myself and keep working. Peace of mind is my topmost priority now,” she concludes. The Prakash Jha show features Bobby Deol in the lead role as self-proclaimed godman Baba Nirala. The series also stars Esha Gupta, Anupriya Goenka, Adhyayan Suman, and Tridha Choudhury. ‘Aashram 3’ will stream on MX Player from June 3.