Narayani Shastri is a "selfish actor" who just sees her "character’s graph"

Narayani Shastri, who is back to fiction genre on TV after a gap of two years with Zee TV‘s Phir Subah Hogi, does not like her return to be tagged as a “comeback”, “for she was always around doing non-fiction shows like a contestant on Zor Ka Jhatka and two sporadic episodes of Meethi Choori No 1.” Narayani shares with Tellychakkar.com, “As for my absence from fiction, I was not comfortable with the kind of shows, which were being made then. I was not afraid of losing visibility as I am not a very ambitious person. Having said that, the kind of response I got during the break on Twitter requesting me to get back to acting was heartwarming. I could not have asked for anything more.” Coming to Phir Subah Hogi, Narayani says that the production house (Panglosean Entertainment) takes good care of her. So does this talented dancer (she showed some impressive moves in Zara Nachke Dikha) prepare or rehearse for her dancing scenes? “No, the medium does not offer so much latitude. I just do my rehearsals and then the final take.” Furthermore, she has no qualms playing the role of an 18 year-old girl’s mother, “I am just essaying a character. May be Gulabia (my character name) got pregnant early in life and had I been in her case (real life), even I would have had a child of 15 years. This is at least much better than my earlier role in Kkusum, where I had played the mother to Akashdeep Saigal (Sky), which was ridiculous as nothing made sense. But then that was a trend. If there was something I could change about the TV industry, it would be this “me too” syndrome.” She also does not worry about the fact whether this show about zamindari oppression of a particular dancing tribe in Bundelkhand will appeal to all sections of the audience or not, “I am a selfish actor who just sees my character’s graph and how she fits in the overall scheme of things, though I also believe that a nice story told aptly always finds its audience.” Narayani, who came on the TV scene years back with Kahani Saat Pheron Ki regards her last fiction show Namak Haram as her best creative work, “This Real Television presentation was one of the best made shows on the desi small screen in the past decade or so. It had a beautiful story, perfect casting and good direction, but unfortunately as the channel abruptly shut down within eight months of its launch, we had to bear the brunt. Had Namak Haram been on a big channel say Colors or Sony, it would have become a cult like Bade Achhe Lagte Hain.” Piya Ka Ghar was Narayani’s call to fame (role of Kaveri) and she has pleasant memories of working in the above Zee TV show and her best friend from the TV fraternity Priyanka was also a part of it. At the personal front, she shares that she is in a relationship with somebody from outside the entertainment industry. “I have not thought of marriage yet, but will cross the bride when we get to it,” she ends.