Kritika Kamra: Popularity and success have given me power to take risks

Mumbai, Jan 11  Actress Kritika Kamra says the popularity and success she has got over the years by working in TV has given her the confidence to take more risks in terms of choices.

She adds with the evolving scenario in the entertainment business, she does not want to fight the tag of ‘TV actress’.

Kritika recently appeared in the multi-starrer web series ‘Kaun Banegi Shikharwati’ and played one of the female protagonists in the show – Rajkumari Kaamini.

While her character is certainly not one of the quirky and funny ones who is a social media influencer, self-obsessed irritating personality among all the other siblings in the show, Kritika shares her thought behind choosing such an unlikeable character that makes her feel liberated.

Kritika told IANS: “Whenever we play any character, we always want the character to be loved by the audience, especially when it is an ensemble cast. But I really wanted to let go of all that and I wanted our audience to laugh at the character and in the end to say, ‘Oh God! she is so irritating!’.

“That is the compliment I was looking forward to…I mean who sleeps at night wearing blue eyeliner? My character Kaamini does! She goes on Instagram and says all things nonsense (laughs)! But at the same time, I must say, choosing a character that is quite unlikeable is coming from certain confidence.”

“The popularity and success I have got from my years in television, has actually given me the power to take the risk and opt for unusual characters. Earlier I also did another web series ‘Tandav’ in which my character was quite grey, complicated and nuanced and certainly not a girl you will fall in love with. But again, as an actress those are the opportunities I want to grab,” added the actress.

Kritika started her career as a model and made her acting debut in 2007 with the show ‘Yahaan Ke Hum Sikander’, and is known for the character of Dr Nidhi in the show ‘Kuch Toh Log Kahenge’.

While she admits that the interest is shifting for young actresses like her from TV to big screen, she says she is done fighting the tag.

“The best thing that happened in the present time is I am not going to fight the tag anymore…of being the TV actress. Honestly even three years ago also we all had to fight the tag of ‘TV actress’ but now the whole thing of image and casting of an actor has changed.

“I had to say no to so many projects, where all I was getting a similar character like Dr Nidhi, because I was popular in that. Now, I am in a good space to experiment and take one step at a time. No, I am not saying all my choices will be right, I can go wrong also but it is empowering to make your own choices,” Kritika signed off.

The show ‘Kaun Banegi Shikharwati’ also featuring Naseeruddin Shah, Lara Dutta, Soha Ali Khan and Raghubir Yadav, among others – streams on ZEE5.