Seema Pahwa: Surekha Sikri did not like losing focus of her work

Seema Pahwa, who recently made her debut as a filmmaker, has been a theatre actress for years. She was also an active part of the parallel cinema movement and has dabbled in the world of television for years. It was in those years when she met Surekha Sikri, a senior she grew up to love and respect.
The Bareilly Ki Barfi actress shares, “Surekhaji was a senior, but someone I always enjoyed being around.She and I were friendly, but I never crossed that line of respect. She came across as that person. The industry gave her very little and very late. People didn’t tap much into her potential, I wish they did. At her age, she wove magic into those roles she played in Badhaai Hoand in the web movie that she acted in. Surekhaji was disciplined. She didn’t like losing focus of her characters, which is the reason she never ever entertained anything or anyone who could distract her from her work. This was her magic potion which made every character she played memorable. At the start of my acting career, I used to be so mesmerised by her stage performances. She owned every performance and she had people’s attention when she was on stage or on screen. That’s the dedication and discipline she had that actors in the new generation need to have. Most of them have been deprived of it today because she is no longer with us.”
Seema adds, “People who haven’t been around her won’t know or be able to imagine what a performer she was. Even in her personal space, she was someone who believed in discovering things about herself all the time. She was expressive; all it took was focus. I wish the industry woke up to her sooner. I worked with her on TV shows and in two films, Hari Bhari and Zubeidaa. Each time I was around her, I came back learned.”