Aaditi Pohankar on bond with Ziddi Ishq co-star Parambrata Chattopadhyay: ‘Our interaction began with luchhi and aaloo’

Aaditi Pohankar

For Aaditi Pohankar, Raj Chakraborty's Ziddi Ishq took her back to her early theatre days when she played a seven-year-old in a play. So, the offer to portray a schoolgirl falling for her tuition teacher in the JioHotstar series elicited an immediate yes from the actor.

"When I started doing plays, my first role was of a seven year old. I enjoy playing that age group, from childhood to adolescence because you rediscover the world. Like I started looking at kids around and it was nice to feel that [innocence]," she says. The show explores how Mridul's (Pohankar) love for Shekhar (Parambrata Chattopadhyay) gradually turns into obsession. The actor was certain that her portrayal of a one-sided obsessive lover needed to be authentic to strike a chord with the audience.

(L-R) Aaditi Pohankar and Parambrata Chattopadhyay in ‘Ziddi Ishq'

"I wanted to make this character mine. There was a lot of pressure to not make it look like something that's already been seen. I also didn't want to make it caricaturish because then her love would look like that too," she says. She found ample support from Chattopadhyay in her endeavour.

"Our interaction began with luchhi and aaloo, followed by script reading. So, I instantly connected with him. For me, he became Shekhar da immediately because we didn't have much time to get to know each other. But than me figuring it out on my own, he was with me in that process from day one. [He helped me] to know him as Shekhar da," she smiles. The actor will next be seen in Mandala Murders 2.

Aaditi Pohankar shares that she doesn't let fear cloud her judgement. "Many people keep scaring you. You can't get ahead by carrying fear. Contrary to what people told me, I didn't get any role of a cop or an intense sexual character after She, which made me confident."