The always easy-going and effervescent Surbhi Chandna, who has given hits like Ishqbaaaz, Sanjivani, and Naagin, decided to go the digital route after her last stint. She was actively giving auditions for web shows while still deciding on the next phase of her career when she got a call from producer Saurabh Tewari of Madhubala fame. “We go way back. I remember auditioning for one of his older shows and being rejected by the channel. While he always considered me for his shows, the timing was never right,” says Chandna. She laid out her conditions — with her family as witnesses — and was ready to turn him down, especially when he told her that her character Manmeet Shergill in Sherdil Shergill is a single mother. “I politely declined the role. I was not ready to play a mother on screen. I had rejected [such roles] in the past.” However, she was convinced by Tewari’s narration and promise to “not change the narrative under the pressure [of TRPs].”

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