Top

Not the real Goddess Parvati

Television actress Sonarika, who played the Goddess has been forced to clarify she’s a regular human being

Television actress Sonarika, who played the Goddess has been forced to clarify she’s a regular human being

When TV actress Sonarika Bhadoria shared a bikini-clad vacation picture of herself on Instagram (above), little did she know that the number of hate messages it receives would far outnumber the ‘likes’ it gathers. Sonarika it seems had unwittingly upset a large number of her viewers who weren’t amused at the sight of (on-screen) Parvati flaunting a bikini bod. The 23-year-old actress had portrayed the goddess in a show called Devon Ke Dev Mahadev that aired two years ago and was very popular at the time.

After initially being amused at the reactions, Sonarika later was taken aback by how she is still associated with the mythological show.

She says, “I’m an actor, I play multiple characters but I’m Sonarika first and I’ve all the right to do things in my personal life as and when I want to,” she lashed out. “I’ve done much more after that and my life is just not about Parvati. Were they expecting me to wear a salwar kurta or a saree to the beach I’m as normal as any other human being and allowed to do things just like the rest.”

Apart from the outpouring of support on Instagram after her post, Sonarika is also receiving encouragement from actors in the TV industry. Kavita Kaushik, who is best known for her role as Chandramukhi Chautala in sitcom F.I.R. said, “While I don’t know Sonarika personally, I know she has a wonderful and fit body. She can wear whatever she wants; it’s her life. If people can’t understand that it’s a character that she’s playing, it is their problem.”

Actress Rashami Desai, who played Tapasya in Uttaran a few years ago, says she has had a fair share of run-ins with fans about her negative character. “I was in a flight once and two very elderly gentlemen were audibly talking about me. My character was pregnant at the time and was lying about who the father was,” she recounts. “The men would pass loud comments and say ‘yeh wahi hai na jo apne serial mein sabko maar deti hai ’ In a bit one of them tapped me on my shoulder and asked me whose child I was carrying! I was very livid and gave them a piece of my mind,” she says.

Popular TV actor Kamya Punjabi, who has played several negative characters, explains that while people’s affinity with the characters can be taken as a compliment, fans must learn to maintain and respect boundaries. “We play characters for people’s entertainment, those characters don’t rule our lives,” she asserts. “There had been a time when I was shooting in Madh Island and a woman who saw me as a character I played, actually came up to hit me!”

On her part, Sonarika is still trying to get over the rude shock. “People on social media think that they can get away with saying anything behind the shield of a username, to the extent that they tagged my mother and brother on my posts, exhorting them to rein me in,” she fumes. “I took down the photos, but my relatives and my mother said that I was taking the naysayers way too seriously. I put the photos back and the amount of joy and confidence I got after that was immeasurable.”

Next Story