The sea always lifts my mood: Preetika Rao

Mumbai: The gorgeous Preetika Rao has been wowing the audience with her portrayal of Aliya on the popular Colors show Beintehaa. The actress has earned a lot of fans and is fully enjoying her stint on television. She lets us in on a little secret. Preetika says, “I don’t have a make-up artist, I do my own make-up for the show. I feel I know what works best for me. I prefer to keep my look as natural as possible. My eyes are expressive so that is something I highlight.” She is also disciplined about her wellness routine. “I follow a good beauty regime and I drink lots of water. In Mumbai, due to the humid climate it is important to keep rubbing ice on your face. One should also use a good serum and a moisturiser,” says the actress, parting with her beauty secrets.

While she dons salwar-kurtas on the show, off screen she prefers Western casuals. She says, “I wear a lot of tank tops and sleeveless tops. In India I normally team it up with jeans, but when I’m abroad I wear shorts often.” Being in the entertainment industry, it is vital for actresses to watch their weight. But unlike her contemporaries, Preetika doesn’t believe in dieting. “I am a foodie plus a Mangalorean. We Mangaloreans can’t do without our daily dose of rice and curry with coconut in it. I enjoy Thai curry too because it has lots of coconut. How can you expect a girl who loves her rice to death to be on a diet?”

Besides food, Preetika’s other passion lies in photography. She says, “I end up photographing children very often. I love the innocence when they are just lost in themselves. We have three children on our show and they are all so cute. I have captured them all in my camera.” Her list of pet peeves include bad breath and body odour. “I cannot stand bad breath and it becomes a major problem especially when I have a scene where both of us are in close proximity. I wish people were more careful. Also, one must make it a point to use deodorants in summers especially, else it can be very uncomfortable for co-actors,” she says.

After spending long hours shooting, Preetika likes to unwind by the sea. The actress says, “My mood lifts the moment I am near the sea. When we were young, we lived near the sea. So spending some quiet moments near any water body always makes me happy. In Mumbai, my favourite haunts are Bandra Bandstand, Carter Road and the Worli Seaface. Whenever I’m exhausted I just drive down to one of these places.”

She also admits she is a romantic at heart. However, she says she is yet to meet the right guy. While there have not been many romantic moments for her in real life, on screen she has had quite a few memorable ones. “One of my favourite moments from Beintehaa was when I leave Zain and decide to catch a train to Bhopal. I am teary eyed and I realise that I do have some feelings left for him.”

Preetika also quotes an instance from her Tamil film. “There is this scene where my co-star Arya pulls me aside and shows candid photos that he had clicked of me. He flirts with me and I shy away. It was extremely romantic,” she gushes.

Her television show has just taken a new twist with Dimple Jhangiani joining the cast as Barkat. Ask her if she has been bonding with her new co-star and she says, “We haven’t got the time. I haven’t worked with Dimple before and neither have I seen any of her previous work, so I don’t know her at all. Shooting takes up all our time, so there isn’t much time to sit and chat.”