Exclusive - Ridhi Dogra on having faced rejections for being a TV actor; says, 'It has happened innumerable times and it's really sad'

Maryaada: Lekin Kab Tak? actress Ridhi Dogra has entertained the audience with her subtle acting skills. The 36-year-old has been in the industry for a decade and has now delved into the digital world. Ask Ridhi if she'll return to TV, to which the actress exclaimed, "Why not?" To know more about her projects, bond with Ekta Kapoor, facing rejections for being a TV actor, read this space: (Photo: Instagram)

Yes, all the time. And, that has happened innumerable times and it's really sad. It's not that it happens just across mediums, it happens in television itself. In television, they will say, 'Oh, in your previous serial, you did this, so you can't do this.' Why? So, it's not really across mediums, it's everyone. More than what you are doing to me, more than what it means for me, I feel it's really a comment on creative people, the casting agents, or people who are writing stories and saying stuff like this. I really feel that this shows how limited they are in their creative approach that you don't have the confidence in your own work and you don't think that this is written so well that 'Yeah, this person will pull it off. I will make it happen' but that doesn't happen. I feel like more than it being sad for us actors, I feel it's sad for the creative people, who think like this 'Oh, aapne ye kar liya toh ab aap ye nahin kar sakte.' I feel they are limited in their approach. It's like, I will find my way. When you want to do something, you just do it, regardless of how many ever people stop you. Every time someone makes a comment like that, I don't take it badly but I feel sad for them.(Photo: Instagram)

I don't know about television but I can say, content evolution has happened in the sense that now there are more mediums than television. I can look at it as my years of being an actor and what I do see is that there are so many more writers, people who want to tell stories which are about real people, the whole culture from films, we see the star system going out. I actually see it in totality. Television caters to an audience and it is doing a very good job catering to that audience. And, some of them have shifted to the web but there is still a very strong audience based for television and the content that it churns out. It advertises money and all FMCG products. So, they have to cater to who they have to. So, what you want to see is, what you will get. If you get TRPs for some show and you may call it a bad show but well if you're getting the TRPs, well, that is what is being watched, that is what people are enjoying.(Photo: Instagram)

A lot of inner work helps me. As you grow up, you realise that you can't change the world. You can't change things outside of you. Whenever I am down and out, cinema really helps me. Reading really helps me, simply to cut off from everything and go into the world of books. You really come out with lessons sometimes, which touches your heart and makes sense to you. Dancing or doing anything which is movement-based, I did so much of that some years ago. Honestly, I'm really missing that in this whole lockdown situation that we have got going on. I'm really missing, just being able to move and to do various things to keep myself busy till I start my next shoot. Those things really help but I feel inner work of any kind helps because that's like Ayurveda, it will help you not suppress your problem, it will eradicate it from the core. And, that's what should be done. We can all go out to party with family and friends but that will be very temporary, it's not going to be permanent. So, I believe inner work of any kind is a permanent solution for any kind of our problems.(Photo: Instagram)

I am never mentally balanced, I am an actor (laughs). I am very sensitive and like I said, inner work and spiritual practises of all kinds really helps in creating a balanced mind. I get really affected by other people's energies. I get affected by what's happening in the world around us, I do get affected. So, for me, it's important to keep cutting myself off. I keep going into my shell. I keep going to people who feel safe, whether it's my brother (Akshay Dogra), bhabhi (Sakshi Dogra) or my closest friends or even with people who I don't meet like, I don't meet Asha (Negi) all the time but I have that connection with her where I feel safe with her. So, it's very important for me to keep cutting off, otherwise, I get drained of energy because I think I'm a little sensitive. I could meet a stranger and if they are off, I'll feel their energy and then I'll try and go out of my way to make them feel comfortable. I don't need to do that. So, I keep trying to preserve energy. It's very important for me.(Photo: Instagram)

It's a new friendship and we've just recently met. I didn't know her at all before. The producer of one of my previous digital shows was extremely kind to me while we were doing the show. He saw a lot of promise in me as an actor and I must give him credit where it's due. So, he was actually very keen that I work with Ekta. He was very keen she meets me and sees my work because he's very sensitive when it comes to actors. He understands how much time we give to this craft and how difficult it is for us. So, when I met Ekta, we hit it off on a very spiritual level because I am all about spiritualism. So, I connect with anybody on that level. There is no other level. I don't like socialising, I am not a party person or anything. And, that's how I connected with Ekta and its just been beautiful. She's an adorable person and quite a genius at that. I have a nephew, my friend, Barun (Sobti) he has a daughter (Sifat) and lockdown happened and everyone's looking for company for kids also because they are not going to school or pre-school. So, that's how, we sort of found a bond also. Sifat's birthday just happened and I know she (Barun's wife Pashmeen Manchanda) has invited her (Ekta) and her son (Ravie). It's more like a parent-nephew-niece kind of a situation but we've also connected at a very human level just beyond the producer-actor because I am not like that as a person. I connect with people at a very human level, and when there is no connection, then there is no connection. In Ekta's case, there has been a connection. (Photo: Instagram)

A lot of people don't give TV actors a chance because they feel like we can't do it but she took that chance with me. She had never worked with me. She'd not even seen my work.(Photo: Instagram)

Why not? I love television. I love that medium. I was telling my friends some time back, in fact, all the time that I love the idea of going to the set every day because it's like an office, it's fixed, where I have to go at 9 am and I'll be there till 9 pm. I'll have my lunch packed and snacks packed. It's amazing as an actor to have that kind of stability. It is very rare for an actor and you only get it on television, nowhere else. Even in television, shows run out and finish faster than ever now but at least you know you are working for a couple a period of time. I would like to be a part of something that challenges me, if that happens, of course, I would love to do television.(Photo: Instagram)

I've done all reality shows except Jhalak Dikhhla Jaa but not a certain show which locks me up in a house.

He is my brother and has no option but to hear me rant all my life. From the time I was in school, he had no choice because we were sharing a room and when the lights are off, I look at the ceiling and I tell him 'this is what happened, this is what my friends are doing, you know what that teacher did' and he's always been there. I am very grateful to have that bond with him. I keep borrowing his friends all my life. I have less friends of mine and more of his friends because I don't trust people easily and he does. He has some great friends and some great friendships over the year. Even now, Barun, Sanaya and that whole gang, they are his friends. We have that kind of a bond and I would like to keep it that way. I am very clear about the fact that if you are in Bombay, we have to live close by because now my nephew is there and Mumbai is such a city where you can easily miss talking to each other. We get so caught up in our own world that even though we want to meet each other, we can't because we just get so exhausted and tired at the end of the day. Sometimes you do nothing and get tired. That's why I have decided to stay around them.(Photo: Instagram)