The young Jhansi Ki Rani, Ulka Gupta is all set for her big stint, as the show starts from tonight at 8:00 pm on Zee TV. The actress talks about her experience and dreams in this hearty chitchat…
Jhansi Ki Rani has lot of action in her life? How did you manage to learn the weapons?
I learnt horse riding and sword fighting for two months at Versova Beach. Along side, I read the book on Jhansi Ki Rani, which had lots of information about it. Thankfully, when I practiced all this, my vacation was going on. Also, I had been to the workshop to learn the shloka’s and the body language of how Jhansi Ki Rani was.
For how many hours have you practiced?
I use to practice from 5:30 in the morning to 11:00 am by the noon. In this session I learned both horse riding, as well as sword fighting.
You did not wanted to become an actor, sohow come you decided to switch to acting?
Yes actually it was true, as I wanted to become a cameraperson or an action director. But I took up acting to know this world. With JKR, I am able to pursue my dream of action direction, as this show has lot of it. It was a good opportunity and today I get chance to perform all my stunts. There is no body double used for my stunts and I am enjoying it.
What are your expectations from the show?
I am confident that this show will be good and loved by the audience.
Any mishaps happened during the shoots?
Yes, lots of time I fell from the horse but did not injure my self badly. The team of the show was there for my help. I remember recently in Rajasthan my horse just threw me back and I fell. Also, we were shooting for an important sequence where I had to hit the bull’s eye with my bow and arrow, it was then I and my horse fell down, but with god’s grace nothing happened to me.
These animals also do get tired after working for long hours, so sometime I feed my horse a Parle G biscuits. She loves to eat that.
Coming back to your studies, how do you manage both the worlds?
My school timings are from 7 to 12 pm in the noon and after that I report to the set, which is near to Mumbai. Again in the night by 12 I leave from there, if there is school next day or else the production team has made arrangements for me and my mom to stay there also.
During the shoot whenever I get time, I either rest or do my studies. The team of the show is very nice and supportive and they take care of me very well.
If not in this industry, what would have you become?
I would have become an engineer, as this was the dream of my dad. Even I wanted to go ahead in this direction, but after coming into acting there is very little time to concentrate on such thing. But in future, if I get a chance I would definitely go ahead and do my IIT.
