Pooja Sahu: Shooting festive scenes helps us connect with the festival

MUMBAI: Actress Pooja Sahu, who plays the role of Mandira in Dahej Daasi, says that celebrating festivals as part of the show storyline is a lot of fun. She adds that while the show has nothing special to celebrate on Ganesh Chaturthi, there is something special planned as well.

“Ganesh Chaturthi is a big festival. The storyline remains the same, but there will be a major revelation coming up that you need to watch for yourself on our show. It’s a very interesting part that will highlight Ganeshji's power. So, to find out, keep watching!” she says.

She adds, “Whenever a festival is approaching and we’re shooting festival scenes, we feel more connected. For example, with Ganesh Chaturthi coming up, we’ve already filmed Ganeshji scenes before the actual festival. So, we start feeling the festival vibes early and get excited about it. In a way, we celebrate twice: once in our real lives on the festival day and once on set with our show’s family. It’s a great way to enjoy the festival.”

Talking about how Ganesh Chaturthi is celebrated on the set, she says, “Our set ritual is that every year we bring Ganeshji to our set. This is a tradition we follow on our show. The best thing about our show is that we have timely pack-ups. So, after shooting, we don’t really feel tired, and we get time to enjoy the festivals, do some shopping, or whatever we want to do. Plus, we usually have Sundays off as well, so we get plenty of time.”

Shopping, cooking, getting Ganpati home, the festival has so many interesting elements, says the actress. “I used to bring Ganpati Bappa home every year, but for the last two years, I haven’t been able to do it. When I used to bring Ganpati home, I would take time off, usually for one and a half days. This year, it seems a bit difficult because we have a very tight shooting schedule. So, this is how I'm managing it.”

She adds, “My plan for this year is, of course, to visit my friends, especially Monika Khanna and Ankit Batla, who are from Thapki Pyaar Ki. I always make it a point to visit their place for Ganpati celebrations. Besides that, depending on how much time I have, I’ll try to visit other places too. I definitely want to go for darshan at Lalbaugcha Raja as well. So, let’s see how I manage it. This is what I’m planning.”