Actress Asha Negi, who made her OTT debut with Ekta Kapoor's Baarish, managed to win everyone's heart in the digital space with two successful seasons. However, her character as an investigative journalist in Abhay 2 has helped her to break the girl next door image.
The actress, who is now gearing up for her film Ludo with Abhishek Bachchan, had a video chat with us recently. Asha not only spoke about her work and growing career but also reasoned why she keeps going for a social media detox. The actress also revealed if she is ready for new love. Watch the video below:
Were you expecting this kind of response for Abhay 2?
Frankly, I wanted to try something different and was very excited to do this as I have never done a character like this before. I always wanted to do something challenging and finally it happened. Luckily, the response is really good. People are liking me in this character and I am very happy to see the feedback. Viewers have accepted me in this new character and that is giving me more motivation to attempt something new ahead.
We have always seen you playing a girl next door, were you apprehensive to play this character initially?
I was waiting for something different to come up, so that I can break the stereotype. And when this came up to me, I didn't give a second thought. I told my team I really want to do it because that's how I will be able to break that image.
You are playing an investigative journalist in the show. Did you do any kind of homework?
I had to work on my body language because the problem is most of the time I slouch. But for this role, I had to be very uptight always, standing straight. Luckily, since my career started, I have been surrounded by many journalists, so that also kind of helped. I also watched a film Knives Out during lockdown which is about a journalist and a strong female character. It too helped.
You got to work with Ram Kapoor again, who was your co-star in your first show Bade Achhe Lagte Hain. We hear you were nervous?
Ram Kapoor is one of my favourite co-stars and I have told this so many times. When I did my first show with him, Bade Achhe Lagte Hain, I was struggling. And being such a senior actor both of them- Ram Sir and Sakshi ma'am, both were so good and kind to me. I think that really taught me a lot when my journey in the industry had just started. That is something which I will never forget. Now, when I got to know he is also in this series and now I am an experienced actor, so I will be very confident in front of him. But I was very much nervous again. Of course, I was better than what I was back then which I think is also a good sign. It was because of the respect I have for him.
Your Bollywood debut with Anurag Basu's Ludo is not releasing in theaters anymore. Are you upset?
The first time when I got to know it's not going to release in theaters anymore and it would be a digital release, I was a bit disappointed. It was my first film and the most exciting thing about any actor is watching themselves on a big screen. But it was a very minor emotion which I overcame and said to myself, 'chal theek hai yaar every film is now getting released on OTT. If Amitabh Bachchan sir's movie is getting released on OTT, then who am I?' Whatever happens happens for good. Maybe this was not the time, it will happen in future. No worries.
Now, when you have managed to break your girl next door image, what sort of projects do you have on your wishlist?
I am really hoping to keep doing different characters, different shades and keep challenging the inner actor and continue to do some good work.
Asha, you are on social media detox for the second time within a few months. What is the reason?
I do this to myself a lot of times. So, you have social media on your phone- right from your Instagram to Twitter- and everytime I scroll my Instagram, I see feeds which I find unnecessary, but still it messes up with your head. A lot of unwanted energy getting in. Last time in May when I went off social media, the reason was that I wanted a break from the outer world. And this time also, the reason is the same. I want to disconnect from this social media world and be with myself.
What kind of feeds do you want to avoid?
There are a lot of things. Many times we come across some pictures and feel 'arre yaar kyun daali hai isne ye picture? Kyun kya zaroorat thi?' So much of negativity is going around and people are getting affected. In fact, I would suggest everybody should go for a social detox and watch a documentary titled- social delima.
But it is extremely important for actors to be active on social media. Do you agree?
Yes I do. There are times when I have to post things when I don't want to because it is about work, Instagram deals and other things. But I don't take that pressure of being interactive with the fans, posting pictures and videos all the time to keep your followers glued to your page. I am not saying these are not important things but it's just that I don't let it take over my life. I don't do things under stress of losing out on my followers. I have lost followers in my past like it was 1.9 M and it came back to 1.8M. It happened as I am not that active in comparison to other celebrities. I feel my mental peace is most important and I want to maintain that.
Do you get affected by trolls?
Gone are the days when I used to get affected by trolls and the hate tweets and comments they used to post. I did get affected initially but not anymore as I know they just want to play with your mind. They don't have anything better to do. So, they just make fake profiles and start trolling you and keep commenting stupid things. Let me clear this, I don't go for social media detox because of the trolls. Too much on social media also sometimes affects your life and you need to take a break from that. It's very important. I go for social media detox for my own mental health.
Are you ready for love now?
I don't think I am ready right now and I think I owe some time to myself.
Image Source: Instagram/ashanegi