‘Katha Ankahee’ is about spirit of women, says actor Aditi Sharma

New Delhi, Feb 5 (PTI) Everyone is faced with adversity in life, but what matters is how they deal with it, believes actor Aditi Sharma who says her latest television show “Katha Ankahee” celebrates the fighting spirit of women.

On the Sony TV show, the actor plays Katha, an architect and single parent who takes up odd jobs to gather enough money for her ailing son Aarav.

When she is unable to put together funds for Aarav’s cancer treatment, she submits to her boss Viaan (Adnan Khan)’s condition of spending a night with him.

“The show is about the spirit of this woman. Everyone is faced with adversity. What matters is how you deal with it. How you fall and get up again and again. It’s all about the journey. You have to sometimes ignore and forget things. I love the character I’m playing. She’s a fighter,” Sharma told PTI in an interview here.

The Lucknow-born actor, also known for starring in TV shows such as “Gangaa” and “Silsila Badalte Rishton Ka” as well as films “Mausam” and “Ladies vs Ricky Bahl”, said she is overwhelmed by all the love coming her way for the serial.

Crediting show’s director Ravi Bhushan and the writing team for hitting the right note with the delicate narrative, Sharma said it is heartening to see the audience connect with a TV show at a time when streamers are ruling the Indian entertainment industry.

“When I heard the story, I felt it’s so sensitive, delicate. If we go right, it’s going to be amazing. If we go wrong, it’s going to be bad. Thankfully, we have a very good director on board, Ravi Bhushan, the writers and team.

“Everything is just going right. That’s why three generations can watch this show. It’s such a big win for the writers and the whole team especially at a time when nobody wants to watch TV because you have too many OTT options. It’s so overwhelming,” she added.

Among the admirers of “Katha Ankahee” are writer-producer Sutapa Sikdar and veteran actor-costume designer Dolly Ahluwalia, according to the actor.

“Irrfan sahab’s wife Sutapa called the director and Dolly Ahluwalia ji said ‘I watch it, my sister watches it… we all love the show’. It gives me a kick to go to work every day. People are calling me from everywhere and praising the show. It’s never happened to me before.”

There were, however, concerns about if the show, which is the official Hindi adaptation of the Turkish series “One Thousand and One Nights”, will work in India.

“When the show started everybody had this hiccup: will the show work in India or not? Because the hero is not very hero-like in the beginning. Then, there were a lot of people writing to me that please don’t make Katha fall in love with Viaan, somebody who has exploited her.

“If I forget my TV show and think about it, I am like maybe they are right about it. But after all it’s a TV show. Now there are some people messaging and saying when will she forgive him,” Sharma said.

Asked if the creators tweak the script based on the audience’s suggestions, the 39-year-old actor said performers have “no control” over the narrative but she often passes on the messages to the director.

“When people write to you, it matters today especially when they send you direct messages on Twitter and Instagram. I read a lot of these and tell my director and the team,” she added.

Sharma also said both she and co-star Khan are yet to watch the Turkish original.

“During discussions with the creative team, I told our director that I think we should not watch the original because somewhere visually I would set a benchmark that this should be the performance.

“Then they said if we are writing and directing it in a new way, it’s an official Hindi adaptation, why should you watch it at all? Then we decided to not watch the show. I’ll watch the original once our show ends. I want to see how they dealt with the same concept and story.”

“Katha Ankahee” airs on Sony TV weekdays at 8.30 pm.