Exclusive! Anchal Singh on life after Yeh Kaali Kaali Ankhein success: A beautiful responsibility because all eyes are on me

Undekhi season 2 has released since a while now and two women from the series have made headlines ever since season 1’s release. We’re talking about Anchal Singh who plays the role of Teji in the series and Apeksha Porwal, who is seen as Koyal. Both the actress got into an exclusive interaction with OTTplay and spoke about their time on Undekhi sets. Anchal also recalled how life is post Yeh Kaali Kaali Ankhein’s huge success. Excerpts…

It’s interesting to speak to you both because you are from different worlds…

Anchal: Yeah but both our worlds do meet.

Apeksha: Season 1 ends on Teji rescuing Koyal.

Anchal: We have a similar heart as well, I feel, despite the different backgrounds.

You both want justice…

Anchal: Yeah.

Apeksha: I think it’s a little greyer than that but our worlds do collide. You want justice to happen but till what extent are you willing to go for that justice and you along the way do so many things that are unjust.

Anchal: In season 2, you also see a lot of similarities that way – talking about our intentions and how we get to that is quite similar.

It would be women having each other’s backs in a man's world, correct?

Anchal: (Thinking) Uhh…

Apeksha: Actually, no. Everybody has their own back. Some of the motivation is about fulfilling your agenda. You can see from season 1 that Teji has a bit of conscience. Every other character to me, to be honest, is so grey, especially going ahead, which is the exciting part of it.

Anchal, people just saw and loved you in Yeh Kaali Kaali Aankhen and now you are back with Undekhi season 2. How exciting is that?

It feels amazing, thrilling, exciting and very gratifying. I couldn’t have asked for a better 2022.

Apeksha: I have to say, I’m a fan of Anchal’s Poorva from Yeh Kaali Kaali Ankhein.

Anchal: Thank you. The compliments that are coming in, the love and appreciation is still sinking in and it’s a great feeling. It’s a huge and beautiful responsibility upon me now because I feel there are so many eyes and so much of love that I’ve got that I from here forward, I don’t want to disappoint anybody. The idea is to just keep doing good things and entertain everybody.

You are picking up such unpredictable kind of characters. Is it a conscious decision?

I do levitate more towards unpredictable or complicated characters because I like to explore their arcs and journeys. Having said that, I feel that if we take up the life of anybody, everybody’s life is very complicated. It’s just thanks to the OTT platform and the kind of time that is given that we have the power and time to get into the complexities and understand the layering the characters have. Otherwise, as humans, all of us have depths but yes, the stories that cater to some sort of journey or movement where the audience is taken from one place to another and characters who can take the journey ahead on their shoulders is something I want to be a part of.

Would you say that because of the whole vibe and feel of Undekhi and the way that Teji is on the show, that Yeh Kaali Kaali Ankhein happened to you?

I have to give credit to Undekhi for helping me make my OTT debut. I always keep thanking Applause Entertainment and Siddharth sir for giving me the opportunity in Undekhi season 1 because from there on, suddenly there was a scope for me to explore this sector and for people to know that I too exist. In lot of interviews, people are now asking me about the projects that I had done several years back. That sort of validation has cropped up today and it definitely paved the way for me to at least have the feeling that one day I will have a stable career ahead.

Teji has shown more twists than anyone in season 1. Can we expect the same from season 2? What should we expect from Teji from season 2?

If holistically seeing, this series is way more intense. It’s going to explore everybody’s agendas and motives even deeper. There’s so much of suspense and twists and turns. In season 1, we saw Teji as a righteous and outspoken girl with a high sense of morals and values. She is about to get married to the love of her life and that is when she’s introduced to the terror created by the Atwals. You get to see how she’s forced to succumb to those situations and get married to that but before season 1 ends, we saw Teji taking up that stand for herself to put a fight against the system. Season 2 is going to be about how she plans to bring this forth and how she manages to get into the system. Whether she’s successful or not is something that the audiences will have to view. While she’s trying to undo the wrongdoings of the Atwals, they are also getting more powerful and trying to expand their undulous activities. There’s this tug-of-war that is happening. Teji’s journey is – you can say she’s more in the front-foot right now but simultaneously, she has an internal journey going on. I like this balance of outside and inside world that Teji has to go through.

Teji is also a part of the Atwals so she doesn’t mess with them as much. She puts her stand but in a way that she is a part of the family…

Actually, when she realizes how the family is – her husband and father deceiving her is when she decides not to get married. At that time, Rinku forces her to get married. Then she takes the call to show the Atwals what she can do. She is a mentally strong girl who doesn’t have power to her side. She cannot do much. How does she get there – knowing that DSP Ghosh is on her side, she tries to save Koyal and is married to Daman – it will be interesting to see how Teji manages to get into the system. Whether she will manipulate it, is successful or terribly fails is something to see. Her intentions are clear this time – that she will do something to correct the situation.

So, the unpredictability factor is missing this time, since Teji is clear in her head and when it comes to her intentions?

Yeah, her intentions are very clear. Her focus is very strong and we would see that throughout. Everything for her is going to revolve around the Atwals and how does she cut down the power created by “the Atwals.”

Apeksha, playing a tribal girl with such efficiency, especially when you know nothing about the way they are, kudos to you for pulling it off so well. Tell me, how did you prepare for the action scenes?

Undekhi is the first show that I did. For me to start off with Koyal is a completely new world. It’s 180 degree opposite of who Apeksha is. She comes from the tribal background, has lived in the Sundarbans, has no education, was molested in her childhood, had to run away in the jungle. Whatever action or how she knows how to kill is because she had to defend herself, not because she is trained in killing. She’s not an assassin. From killing Sarkar to coming and seeing her sister, Praful, Rishi shot dead – it’s like creating a whole different world which was extremely exciting but obviously, there’s a certain responsibility that comes with it and I hope I was able to do some justice to it. Honestly, nothing is more important to me than playing a character authentically, especially for something like this. We did work on the body language. I worked with an accent coach. I have very few lines because as a character, Koyal is not someone who talks a lot. She’s so focused on something that you’ll see in season 2. Given her circumstances, she’s very within herself. She’s anyway an introvert who has been put into this world. We worked with an accent coach. We worked on her body language – how she walks, talks, sits, eats or anything. The action is also really raw – killing with a hair stick or using a stone is something she has done all her life. In season 1, we worked with Siddharth and Ashish sir. They told us their vision. We referenced some stuff and these workshops, even for season 2, I must have sat with Ashish sir so many different times. We were discussing scenes and how we do things. Even in Manali, we completed shooting and sat with him to discuss how should we work. That is when you come up with things on the sets. This is the physicality of it. There’s also creating a whole inner life of an entire baggage that she comes with. A lot of tools came in use. Having prepared all of this, then when you come on sets, the only thing that matters is what happens between action and cut. In that moment, it’s all about just being present in the moment – having all your preparation with you but then keeping it aside and just living as close to Koyal as possible.

I want you to decode a scene for me. The jungle scene, where you have to sneak up on the officers, come down from a tree and doing the action scenes. Was that there in the original script or was modified for effect? What was that scene all about?

The action scenes are already written in the script. How we come about executing it is something that is also decided by the action director in consultation with the director on set, given what circumstances you are shooting in. It was very clear to them that the switch in the character also happens to Koyal when she escapes into the jungle because that is her habitat. Even in season 1, in the back story, she would run away to the jungle to escape from Sarkar when he used to come to the village. That is her habitat – her home. Over there, nobody can beat her because she knows the ways of the jungle more than anybody else. This is something that happens anyway, right? You hear the leaves rustling in a jungle and know an animal has passed by. When you hear the sound, you understand that they are either running from or towards something. These are things which are inane to her. The action scenes are written in a way where this jungle is her habitat and she knows what she can do. The rest of it, I would say, it’s like a choreography actually. It’s a lot of fun. It’s like a dance. While shooting it, you have to make it look like it’s spontaneous and has just come about but it’s also prepared and thought through. These things were thought through and came about there.

Did life change for you after Undekhi in the sense that people noticed you and you have received more projects? Because Koyal is one of the strongest out there in the series.

Undekhi was my debut project as an actor. This was the first time I was introduced to people as an actor. Koyal is so special to me. I’m really grateful to have started with a character like that. It changed in a way that people ended up watching the show. We made something and put it out there. We put in a lot of love, effort and passion in this beautiful script. We didn’t expect it to become what it became. What I got out of it is that more people, casting directors and people I wanted to see the show saw it and I did get more projects. While you still have to audition, such a project gives you a way into that door which is otherwise too difficult to pass through.

What are your upcoming projects? Anchal, I’m curious to know how life has changed after Yeh Kaali Kaali Ankhein and Undekhi 2 also.

Definitely, these two projects have spoilt me and made me clear as an actor. Now I’m a part of such great storytelling and amazing content. Like Apeksha said, I have to give it away to our director Ashish Shukla because while we were preparing for our characters, we did a lot of workshops and sometimes, the workshops were in certain groups and other times solo. They were all very well planned so we could understand the further journey of our characters. Even after a lot of discussions and collaborative efforts that we used to put on the workshops, while we were shooting the scenes, in respect of locations, there was still room for more discussion and understanding how do we want to take it forward.

Coming back to your question, in the mid of the year, I’ll be shooting for the second season of Yeh Kaali Kaali Ankhein. Otherwise I haven’t signed on anything as yet because I’ve always chosen quality over quantity so I’m looking for something really interesting and makes me excited and challenges me. If something like that happens, I’ll make an official announcement.

Apeksha, what about you?

Like I said, I have a couple of things in the pipeline but I need to sign it and be on sets, I wouldn’t want to talk about it. I recently played a part in Badhaai Do which was like a minute or two on-screen. I’m open to such roles too because I really want to be a part of good projects and films or stories that I’m passionate about. I shot for Badhaai Do after completing Undekhi 1 and 2. I just wanted to be a part of it no matter the duration of the role. I’m doing an independent film which has an interesting concept. I don’t know when or where it would release but I liked the story.