Puja Bharati Sharma: Camaraderie on set kept us grounded during Bhay

Puja Bharati Sharma, who has been part of shows like Taarak Mehta Ka Ooltah Chashmah and Choti Sarrdaarni, was recently seen in Bhay: The Gaurav Tiwari Mystery. The series traces the work and legacy of the late Gaurav Tiwari, India’s well-known paranormal investigator. Puja plays Tara, a contestant on a fictional reality show titled Haunting with Haseenas. While the narrative explores unexplained phenomena, Puja says the experience of shooting in remote and abandoned locations was emotionally intense.

Filming at isolated and rundown sites, the team often worked long hours in unfamiliar surroundings. During one solo scene shot with body cameras inside a kitchen set, Puja recalls feeling unsettled enough to pause and check with the director if something was amiss. “I still get goosebumps thinking about it. The atmosphere felt unusually heavy that day,” she says, adding that the crew even performed a havan before beginning the shoot to set a positive tone.

One incident that stayed with the team occurred during a night shoot around 4 am. In still weather conditions, a large tree suddenly uprooted and crashed onto the production’s standby ambulance, leaving the cast and crew shaken. Co-star Karan Tacker was also present at the time.

Despite the demanding environment, Puja remembers the experience fondly. “Working with Karan Tacker was wonderful,” she says. “Even though I didn’t share scenes with Kalki Koechlin or Saloni Batra, we would all sit together for dinner, talk about life, food and travel. That sense of camaraderie helped balance the intensity of the shoot.”

Following her Bollywood debut in Mission Grey House and her appearance in the vertical series Truth Serum Wife, Puja has also signed an upcoming OTT film, the details of which are currently under wraps. “I’ve learnt to focus on my work and stay positive. Watching yourself on screen with your parents is a feeling that outweighs everything else,” she concludes.