I was shivering when I came on stage…

A page from the personal diary of Karishma Randeva I had wanted to act in a play for quite some time now. The first chance to do so came by a couple of weeks back when I was offered a role in a new play Chandni Chand aur Chakori. "I am playing the title role of Chakori,. Chakori is a very cute, bubbly but a dumb girl," The first show was staged at Rang Sharda in Bandra on January 18 and I will never forget what a nervous experience it was for me. I was shivering when I came on stage. My co- stars are Bhavana Balsawar and Rajesh Puri. When I first got this offer I had mixed feelings and was very happy and nervous. I had never done any stage shows in my life before that. Neither during my professional career, nor during my student days. I had only heard from my friends (from theatre) how difficult it was. What was making me really nervous was the fact that for television serials, we can fall back on multiple retakes, but the same is not possible for a play. It has to be a one take ok. The fact that Rajesh and Bhavana – both theatre veterans – were my co-actors was not making things any better for me. But they helped me a lot and without their guidance, I could not have managed this successfully.I will be ever grateful to them. Before stepping in to the stage I was shivering, the instant reaction of audience gave me a kick and I managed my performance successfully. I was thrilled with the experience and the first show did boost my confidence. I realised that there are two things critical to the success of a play – you need to have a good memory and be confident with the costume you are wearing. You need to very active physically! Definitely this experience of mine will help me for all my future shows