"I gave a month's notice to Ekta, but she was still upset!"

Coming from an army background, Barkha Bisht had a tough time convincing her family that she would make a success out of a career in acting. MTV's Kitni Mast Hai Zindagi was one of the four shows she's been seen in, but she's hit the jackpot with the new Rajshri show on Star Plus, Pyaar Ke Do Naam Ek Radha Ek Shyam, where she gets to portray a double role as the lead. Kavita Shyam spoke to the confident young actor. What's your role like in Pyaar Ke...? I play two characters in the show Pyaar Ke... which is about reincarnation. In the present birth, I play Radha, a middle class, family oriented girl. She is a medical student and has high values in life. She is wary of the guys around her who try to flirt with her in college. On the other hand, Shyama from her previous birth is a simple village girl. She is full of life, but an introvert who cannot confront the guy she loves. Kishan (played by Indraneil Sengupta) comes back to the village after completing his studies. Radha has a churidar-kurta look while Shyama has ghagra choli look in the show. Ekta Kappor sent you a legal notice because you walked out of Kya Hoga Nimmo Ka? Yes, Ekta did send me a legal notice and there's a court case pending. The Rajshris' legal department are looking into the case. I think Ekta is too busy to talk to actors like me, who aren't big, but I guess she wanted to go the legal way. But why did you walk out of the Balaji show? I opted out of Nimmo….because I am getting to play the main lead in Pyaar….. Though I did give them a month's notice, I guess Ekta was very upset. How was it to work with Balaji Telefilms? Working with Balaji was a learning experience, they gave me a lot of exposure. I am grateful to Ekta who liked me in my auditions and gave me a break in her show. My first break on TV was through her Kitni Mast Hai Zindagi and I have had no acting background. After all, Balaji is the number one production house in the country! Are you still identified as Kitni Mast Hai Zindagi's Udita? I am identified as the sweet and dumb Udita from Kitni Mast... But I am miles away and different from the character I played, which is extremely close to my heart - it gave me a lot of recognition! But in real life, I am a level headed person and am reserved, however I am extremely friendly too. I am serious about my work and life. Did you begin your career with modeling? I am originally from Dehradun but I completed my education from Pune. I worked in a call centre (GE Capital,Gurgaon) for three and a half years as a voice and accent trainer. My dad was against me getting into this field, but the MTV audition happened quite by chance. Once I made it to the auditions and got selected, I managed to convince my parents to let me go! Now they are happy for me. If I hadn't got any more offers after Kitni…I would have gone back to my earlier job, but thankfully I got to play character roles in Kkavyanjali, Kasautii Zindagi Kay, and now the Rajshris project. I have not been inclined towards films but have grown up watching television and I am influenced by Prerna of Kasautii… Did you have to do any homework for Pyaar Ke…? My character Shyama needed different body language. She's a village girl and her pronunciations are different too. I watched Lagaan a couple of times as my character is similar to Gracy Singh's in Lagaan. Besides Rajshris gave me a good brief about the character and that helped a great deal. What are you future plans? For now, I want to put in all my energy into the show. I shoot 25 days in a month in Wai (interior Maharashtra). I am happy doing television and am passionate about acting, so films may happen only if I get an unusual role. Today, television actors are more famous than film stars. I am open to the idea of doing ad films along with the show though!