TOI: Lot of hassle to b TV actor-Gulki

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In Indore for a personal visit, TV actress Gulki Joshi, aka, Sugni talks to us about her Madhya Pradesh connection, new-found fame and cliches that exist in daily soaps.

Spent most of the school vacation in Indore
Although I was born in Indore but have been brought up in cities like Delhi and Mumbai. But technically I'm an Indorean. I'll always be connected to my roots here in this city. Most of my school vacations were spent here as many of my relatives used to stay in the state. I have some beautiful childhood memories associated with cities Indore andBhopal. In fact, my MP connection has helped me understand the flavour of my show Phir Subah Hogi better. Unlike other actors, I didn't require any training to adopt the Malwi style. This is because MP's culture and traditions are in my blood.

Serials are all about trial and error
I was pretty apprehensive before devoting myself to any daily soap. To be very frank, I myself don't like these typical saas-bahu melodramas. When my serial was launched the TRPs were great but somehow the ratings fell and our writers, too, had to adopt the 'ek jaisa' concept to maintain the audiences' interest. It's not that we lack the courage to experiment, but, often, the response that we receive force us to resort to the ghisi-piti story lines. People often ask me that don't we need a change in the content of daily soaps? As in they've been the same for almost a decade now. But the problem is that even for us, who're directly associated with these daily soaps, it's still a mystery that who actually decides the flow of our shows? It's a pure blame-game and no matter how creative the director is, TRP's are the only thing that matter and focus of the show needs to be shifted as per its fluctuations. Honestly, I, too, don't know how all this works.

I'm not in Mumbai to make friends
Yes, I do share a nice bonding with some of my co-actors from my serial. I am, especially, close to my on screen mother Narayani Shastri. But I'm not someone who becomes the best of friends with everyone she meets. I'm here to do what I have always wanted to. I'm here to practice my passion of acting and carve an identity for myself. Friendship should be something selfless. You cannot decide that mujhe toh issi se dosti karni hai. It just happens. Therefore, I'm cool that I'm not a part of the so-called 'friends group' of the TV industry.

It takes a lot of hassle to be a TV actor
Working in a daily soap is so tedious. It's more like a 12 hour job shift where, just like any other profession, you're totally cut off from all social circles. After two hours of travelling, mugging dialogues and braving the high intensity light in the sets, one is exhausted to go out and have some fun with friends or family. In comparison to this, the working conditions of films are different. The work, there, is easy as there isn't any telecast pressure. You can, actually, get into the depths of everything. Yahan pe toh sab kuch jaldi-jaldi karna padhta hai.