For a girl who never aspired to become an actress, life took a magical turn when she accidentally stumbled upon the small world of entertainment, first as a protagonist in her debut small screen venture Mahasati, and now in her most popular avatar as Maya, an antagonist in Zee Kannada’s Yaare Nee Mohini. Aishwarya Baspure, a model-turned-actress talks about her accidental journey and how the negative Maya has had a positive impact on her career, and she is awaiting to sign a Kannada movie soon, and more.
“The first time I ever faced the camera was when I started acting. Incidentally, was on the first day of shoot for my debut TV venture Mahasati directed by Sunil Puranik Sir. I consider him as my guru as he not only introduced me but taught me the basics of acting, and more importantly the technicalities of adapting oneself in accordance with what the work demands. My role in Mahasati was as a widow, and very sombre with the least amount of dialogues. But, it had a greater depth through expression. I was mostly seen in tears,” says Aishwarya Baspure.
A graduate in arts with psychology and literature from Surana College, Aishwarya’s interest was always to pursue higher studies in psychology. “Ever since school, I was interested in psychology, which is why I chose arts with psychology. I had even planned to do an M.Sc to become a clinical psychologist but destiny had other plans,” she says, adding that modelling was the other interest that eventually led her to tele-serials. “It was accidental, and now I am glad that it did happen,” she recalls.
She considers herself to be fortunate that her family was keen about her newfound passion. “My family, especially my grandmother and mother are so supportive, they motivate me and make me realise that such golden opportunities do not knock on everyone’s door,” she adds. As Maya in Yaare Nee Mohini (YNM), spearheaded by the versatile Shruthi Naidu, the actress shares that when she was offered the role, she was initially sceptical about it but now the anti-magical role has proved to be very successful, and has earned her so much of love and appreciation across age groups.
“The two roles, in Mahasati and YNM are poles apart. Shruthi Maam helped me to such a great extent in essaying the role. It is such a wonderful feeling when people appreciate your work. I recently came across a fan who shared that his mother hates me so much that she cannot stand me as Maya in YNM. According to his mother, I as Maya is the meanest portrayal she has seen in recent times on TV, he told me. I could not have thanked him enough, because the hatred towards Maya means that I am giving my best to a negative role,” Aishwarya smiles.
About her family's support, she says that her mother wakes up early, and packs her meal for an entire day as she does not like to eat outside. “She is my inspiration who keeps me moving. I am lazy at times, but she won’t budge, and motivates me all the time,” says Aishwarya. She admits that literature and psychology helped her express and understand emotions as an actress. The girl who loves going on solo trip adds, “I just head to new places during breaks from work. I almost signed a Kannada movie but due to dates, I couldn’t take it up. I am in talks with tele-serial makers to squeeze in some dates, for a sensible project which I will soon want to be a part of,” she signs off.
