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MUMBAI: To land a role in a TV show after her very first audition at the age of 19 was sheer luck for Delhi girl Amandeep Sidhu, who began her acting career two years back with a small role in Yeh Pyaar Nahi Toh Kya Hai.
After that, she did cameos in shows like Tantra and Paramavatar Shri Krishna.
However, the actress, who now plays the lead in Teri Meri Ikk Jindri said that it was “a struggle to find a meaty role.”.
“Initially, I thought I was lucky that I gave the first audition of my life and bagged a role. I thought that since I got an acting opportunity with just one audition, this is how it is and it would be that simple and easy to find roles. But the reality was different. When I went to Mumbai, I faced a lot of rejections and after that it took three months to get another show, Tantra. I decided to keep an open mind and continued exploring the opportunities that came my way. I even worked in a mythological show, Paramavatar Shri Krishna.”, Amandeep said, who moved to Mumbai in 2018 and completed her graduation through correspondence from Delhi University.
During the coronavirus-induced lockdown, Amandeep says she was even contemplating quitting acting. “Last year was extreme. During the lockdown, for three months I was in Mumbai and it was very depressing. Different thoughts were coming to my mind like I cannot do this, maybe acting is not for me. I was thinking of quitting acting as I didn’t get any work for almost a year. I had decided that I wanted to do a lead role in a show, something which I was not getting. Nothing was working out. I had no alternative plan for my career and I didn’t want to study. Negative thoughts started creeping in, so I tried yoga and meditation to keep myself calm,” she said.
“After three months, I came back to Delhi, but my mom kept motivating me to give auditions. I would tell her that ab bas ho gaya yaar, roz teen-chaar auditions record kar rahi hu, ek nahi dungi to kya ho jayega. So when the audition for Teri Meri Ikk Jindri came, I told my mother the same and was in no mood to go for it. But she pushed me to do it and thanks to her I got the role. If this wouldn’t have worked out, I would have left everything, main haar chuki thi.”, she expressed.
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She further revealed that it is because of her Punjabi background and her upbringing in Punjabi Bagh (in Delhi) that she is able to nail the look in the show, where she plays a Punjabi kudi.
Amandeep said, “All I had to do for this role was gain around five-six kilos as I had lost around nine kilos in lockdown. So when I reached Mumbai after being selected for the show I was asked to gain weight, but otherwise, it was easy for me. I have grown up in a typical Punjabi household jahan gaali Punjabi mein hi padti hai (laughs), so getting the accent right wasn’t a big task for me.”.
Now that she is working as a lead in the show, Amandeep says she is a celebrity among her relatives and in her Delhi neighbourhood. “For my neighbours and relatives, I am a celebrity. They tell me that they are proud of me. But when I had nothing, they were not there. That’s how life is. When you’ve nothing, nobody cares about you but when you achieve something everyone wants the credit. The credit actually goes to my mom and sister.”, she said.
Credit: Bombay Times
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