Ankita Lokhande and Shaheer Sheikh starrer Pavitra Rishta 2 premiered on September 15 and has since been impressing the fans with its new plot. The show reiterates the 2009's TV show of the same name, which starred the late Sushant Singh Rajput in the lead. Hiten Tejwani took his place when SSR left the show to pursue his Bollywood dreams.
Ankita Lokhande has now reprised her role of Archana, and is feeling overwhelmed with the response Pavitra Rishta 2 is getting. But does Ankita miss SSR who she also dated for over six years?
In a recent interview with BollywoodLife, Ankita answered this question. She said, "Not in the scenes. I am a very professional actor. I was prepared somewhere in my head that now I am going to act. You can't miss Sushant and work also. I had to put him aside because I can't work like that. So for me when I was shooting I was just in the scenes.”
“But till today when I hear the title track of the show, I get goosebumps because that was our first meeting. It was the time when Ankita met Sushant. When we were shooting for the title track, I remember I was playing with hair and did a hair flip and he was standing behind. When I hear the song I remember him. As an actor, you have to give your best to whatever you get and you just can't keep thinking. Things do come to mind but you have to cut off and move ahead."
After seven years, the makers decided to bring back the show as ‘Pavitra Rishta 2.0’ with Shaheer Sheikh playing the role of Manav. Initially, a section of the audience were unhappy with Shaheer playing Sushant's former character and they even wanted the makers to replace him. Later, people loved the trailer and appreciated Shaheer for his performance.
Speaking of Shaheer playing Manav in Pavitra Rishta 2, Ankita said, "He was very nervous in the beginning. I told him that people for the first few days will say that they liked Sushant more and all. But the moment they see Manav and Archana they will forget everything. And I was so true. Shaheer was very nervous and anybody would be but I was so sure about him. Because it is up to us as actors to perform well. And Shaheer was giving me that Manav and hence Archana in me came automatically. It is give and take."
Ankita Lokhande has been very vocal about Sushant's legacy since his unfortunate demise.
Image Source: Facebook/SushantSinghRajput
Image Source: Facebook/SushantSinghRajput