Candid talk with Drashti Dhami and Vivian Dsena of Madhubala – Ek Ishq, Ek Junoon on completion of 200 episodes

Who says 70 mm is the only thing a TV actor aims at? For some small-screen actors, their romance with the idiot box is pretty strong. Despite relentless 12-hour work shifts, Drashti Dhami and Vivian Dsena, the lead actors of tele-serial Madhubala – Ek Ishq, Ek Junoon on Colors, find every reason to love their work.
It was supposed to be “grand, engaging, mesmerising and very filmi”. Madhubala – Ek Ishq Ek Junoon on Colors started off with a big bang, with all the works — Vivian Dsena riding high on the industry’s legendary initials of a superstar, RK, and Drashti Dhami as the simple girl destined to make it big on the celluloid. It was a love story that was supposed to capture the behind-the-scenes of tinsel town and the lives of its leading men and women. Today, although it is hitting a top ranking and Dhami has been voted as the most beautiful female television actor, the show is just another love story.As they complete 200 episodes of the serial, the duo comes to Chandigarh city on Saturday to promote the show.

Leading lady

From a doctor in Dill Mill Gayye to secretary in Geet - Huyi Sabse Parayi and now a hairdresser in Madhubala…, the journey of five years has made this actor a household name.

Mumbai girl Drashti, who always aspired to be an air hostess, entered into the glamour world by fluke. She shares, “My friend had to audition for a print advertisement and I went along with her. That’s where I coincidentally bagged a print ad followed by a music video. But, I had to take permission of 11 family members to do that video! See, they were not conservative but possessive.”

Drashti has been on a roll ever since.

“Work keeps me busy to an extent that I feel I don’t have a social life. Even on weekends, when friends get together, I’m usually at the shoots. The only time I get to myself is the one-hour drive time to the shoot. Spending time with friends is the only part of my life that I miss. But it is compensated when fans are eager to get their pictures clicked with me. One of the best compliments that I have received from a fan is, ‘we cry when you cry, we laugh when you laugh’.”

But does the journey end at being a TV star? “I am not interested in doing a Bollywood film until and unless Sanjay Leela Bhansali wants to make Black 2 with me,” she winks.

Superstar

His looks make him a head turner and his decision to tie the knot at the age of 23 has certainly broken many hearts. Vivian Dsena, 23, who hails from Ujjain, Madhya Pradesh, shares, “At 18 when I completed my Class XII, cleared AIEEE and was all set to enroll myself in an engineering college, the love for modelling took me to Mumbai in 2007 as one of top 10 contestants of Gladrags Mr India contest. I debuted with Kasamh Se in 2008 followed by playing the lead in Indian supernatural series, Pyar Kii Ye Ek Kahaani, an Indian version of Twilight Saga.”

“Yes and no,” says Dsena. Dsena adds, “The show is not a saas-bahu saga, it has its elements, various characters and these two main characters.” He says he improvises on the sets, works on the dialogues and is pretty satisfied with the content and the way the makers are taking the show ahead. “The show, how it will pan out and how long will it run is the production’s call,” he says. Dhami agrees. Playing a strong-willed girl who works hard and speaks her mind, Dhami relates a lot to the character of Madhubala. “I am a lot like her,” she says.

Dsena says he doesn’t have an ambitious to turn to Bollywood. “Also, no one has approached me for films yet. I am an out-of-the-blue actor who has never been the first choice for television serials either. In both the serials where I play the lead, the supernatural show Pyaar Kii Yeh Ek Kahani on Star One and now Madhubala, other actors were finalised and I was called in the last minute to replace them,” says the actor, who played the dark vampire, Abhay Raichand, in the Hindi version of Twilight.

Contrary to the serious, aggressive and arrogant role of RK in the show, Dsena says he is a prankster on the sets, cracking jokes all the time. “When you work 12 hours a day, there is nothing else one can find time to do. So it’s Madhubala for now,” he says. 

The actor, who recently married model and TV actor Vahbbiz Dorabjee, has been keeping quite busy with his current show.“I didn’t even go for a honeymoon as I had to shoot back to back for the show. But the kind of response the show is garnering makes me happy.”